FOOTPRINTS 


LETTER-CARRIER-; 


OB, 


CONTAINING 

BIOGRAPHIES,  TALES,  SKETCHES, 

INCIDENTS,    AND    STATISTICS    CONNECTED    WITH 

POSTAL   HISTORY. 


JAMES    REES, 

CLERK     IN     THE    PHILADELPHIA     POST-OFFICE. 


"The  Post-Office  is  properly  a  mercantile  project.  The  government  advances 
the  expense  of  establishing  the  different  offices,  and  of  buying  or  hiring  the 
necessary  horses  or  carriages,  and  is  repaid  with  a  large  profit  by  the  duties  upon 
what  is  carried."  SMITH,  Wealth  of  Nations. 

"A  Messenger  with  Letters."— SPENSER. 


Or     , 

UNIVERSITY 

OF 

FOI 

PHILADELPHIA: 
J.    B.    LIPPINCOTT    &    CO. 

1866. 


Entered,  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1866,  by 
J.  B.  LIPPINCOTT    &    CO. 

in  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  the  United  States  for  the  Eastern 
District  of  Pennsylvania. 


PREFACE. 


THERE  are  few  institutions  in  this  or  in  any  other 
country  the  history  of  which  is  so  little  known  as  is  that 
of  the  post-office.  The  very  name,  in  the  opinion  of  the 
masses,  is  sufficient  to  enlighten  them;  and  beyond  this 
little  or  no  interest  is  manifested.  Yet  the  history,  if 
fairly  written,  would  surprise  that  very  portion  who  con- 
sider the  name  alone  an  index  to  its  unwritten  pages. 

Indeed,  it  seems  strange  that  so  important  a  branch  of 
our  government  should  have  been  so  slighted  by  those 
who  constituted  themselves  historic  writers.  Our  school- 
books  contain  no  allusion  to  it,  nor  are  its  officer*  men- 
tioned with  any  marks  of  commendation  in  any  of  our 
national  works.  And  yet  there  are  names  identified  with 
this  department,  both  as  regards  mind,  intellect,  and  cha- 
racter, unequalled  by  those  of  any  other  in  the  country. 

Perhaps  it  is  looked  upon  as  being  merely  an  appliance 
to  the  wheels  of  government  and  not  essential  to  its 
general  movements.  Is  this  so?  is  the  department  a 
mere  workshop  and  its  officers  and  employees  simply 
workers  ? 

We  have  endeavored  in  this  work — perhaps  feebly — to 
place  the  "post"  before  our  readers  as  one  of  the  most 
important  branches  of  the  General  Government.  We 
have  thrown  around  its  social  and  political  history  an 
interest  by  connecting  with  it  incidents,  facts,  and  local 
matter  more  immediately  identified  with  events  which 
have  marked  our  country's  history  from  its  earliest  period 
to  that  of  the  present. 

i*  5 

165037 


0  PREFACE. 

Much  has  transpired  during  all  these  years  to  render 
such  a  work  both  instructive  and  interesting;  and  although 
we  do  not  claim  for  ours  any  such  pretension,  yet  we  may 
safely  term  it  a  pioneer  in  the  cause  of  our  postal  history. 

We  have  also  endeavored,  without  any  aid  from  the 
postal  department  at  Washington,  to  furnish  a  somewhat 
desultory  history  of  the  post  in  this  country,  while  at  the 
same  time  we  have  given  some  account  of  those  of  other 
nations.  Ours  is  not  a  mere  statistic  history,  but  one 
that  blends  with  it  a  certain  amount  of  information  upon 
every  subject  more  or  less  connected  with  it.  Aiming  at 
no  high  literary  attainments,  or  attempting  to  excel  others 
in  language,  beauty  of  sentiment,  or  construction  of  sen- 
tences, he  has  written  a  work  in  his  own  style,  and  in  a 
manner  which  he  flatters  himself  will  be  received  favor- 
ably by  the  masses.  The  American  language  given  in 
its  plainest  style  will  be  far  more  appreciated  by  them 
than  if  clothed  in  the  classic  garb  scholastic  and  academi- 
cal tailoring  has  thrown  around  it. 

The  nrimitive  style  in  which  our  forefathers  wrote  has 
been  materially  changed  by  the  introduction  of  foreign 
and  learned  words.  This,  it  is  true,  as  Blair  says,  "gives 
an  appearance  of  elevation  and  dignity  to  style;"  but 
often,  also,  they  render  it  stiff  and  forced;  and,  in  general, 
a  plain  native  style,  as  it  is  more  intelligible  to  all  readers, 
so,  by  a  proper  management  of  words,  "it  may  be  made 
equally  strong  and  expressive  with  this  Latinized  English." 
Barren  languages  may  need  such  assistance,  but  ours  is 
not  one  of  these. 

The  author  is  also  aware  that  in  the  general  arrange- 
ment of  his  subject  there  may  seem  a  want  of  connection; 
but,  as  the  postal  chain  is  linked  to  dates,  he  may  be 
excused  if  other  portions  of  the  work  fly  off  in  tangents. 
This,  however,  -is  owing  more  to  the  variety  of  postal 
matter  introduced  than  to  any  neglect  on  his  part  to 
bring  them  into  harmonic  action. 

The  post-office,  dry  and  uninteresting  as  its  name  alone 


PREFACE.  7 

implies,  possesses  an  interest  few  people  are  aware.  It  is 
not  a  mere  commercial  affair,  but  one  th'at  connects  itself 
with  the  interest  of  every  man,  woman,  and  child  in  the 
country  whose  business  and  sympathies  are  alike  linked 
to  its  operations.  There  is  not  a  country  or  a  spot  of 
ground  on  the  habitable  globe  where  civilization,  with  its 
handmaid,  intellect,  treads,  but  is  identified  with  this  vast 
postal  chain.  Touch  the  wire  at  one  end,  and  its  vibration 
may  tend  to  enlighten  even  the  land  of  the  heathen. 
The  wire  has  been  touched;  for 

"From  Greenland's  icy  mountains, 

From  India's  coral  strand, 
Where  Afric's  sunny  fountains 
Koll  down  their  golden  sand, 
From  many  an  ancient  river, 
From  many  a  palmy  plain," 

come  messages  from  our  missionaries,  who  are  endeavor- 
ing to  extend  the  cause  of  Christianity,  and  which  postal 
facility,  the  enterprise  of  civilized  nations,  affords. 

The  author  in  a  great  measure  had  to  rely  upon  his 
own  resources  for  all  the  postal  information  incorporated 
in  this  work.  The  department  at  Washington  and  post- 
offices  throughout  the  country  seem  to  consider  the  records 
of  the  institution  not  of  sufficient  importance  to  be  pre- 
served in  such  a  manner  as  to  make  a  reference  to  them 
an  easy  matter. 

To  M.  Hall  Stanton,  Esq.,  and  Thomas  H.  Shoemaker, 
Esq.,  the  author  feels  highly  indebted,  not  only  for  the 
interest  they  have  taken  in  the  work,  but  for  placing  at 
his  disposal  their  valuable  libraries  and  the  loan  of  old 
and  rare  works. 

For  the  valuable  statistical  tables^  so  carefully  and  so 
well  arranged,  giving  at  a  glance  the  Ledger  account  of 
the  financial  postal  department,  the  author  is  indebted. to 
"William  Y.  McKean,  Esq.,  the  able  and  talented  editor  of 
"The  National  Almanac  and  Annual  Eecord," — a  work, 
to  use  the  language  of  a  distinguished  public  character, 


8  PREFACE. 

"which  is  a  little  library  in  itself,  and  one  which  answers 
nearly  all  questions  on  public  affairs  in  a  most  satisfactory 
manner." 

To  "the  press"  of  our  country,  which  has  become  its 
historian,  is  the  author  indebted. for  much  valuable  matter 
connected  with  the  subject  of  the  post.  If  from  these 
sources  he  has  compiled  a  work  calculated  to  place  the 
postal  department  in  its  proper  light  and  render  it  in  the 
least  instructive  or  interesting,  he  will  be  fully  repaid  for 
the  labor  bestowed  upon  it. 


DEDICATION. 


THE  custom  of  dedicating  works  to  individuals  is  of 
some  antiquity,  or,  at  least,  as  far  as  the  antiquity  of 
book-making  extends.  At  one  period  it  served  the  double 
purpose  of  creating  a  patron  and  enlarging  the  sale  of 
the  book.  Again,  dedications  became  popular  when  great 
men  condescended  to  notice  authors  and  placed  their 
extensive  libraries  at  their  disposal.  Books  published  in 
the  fourteenth,  fifteenth,  and  sixteenth  centuries  afford 
the  curious  reader  rich  specimens  of  this  species  of  lite- 
rary composition. 

Others,  again,  dedicated  their  works  to  men  whose 
opinions  assimilated  with  their  own.  Thus,  the  philoso- 
pher dedicated  his  work  to  one  who  was  considered  versed 
in  the  mysteries  of  science;  the  poet  dedicated  his  effu- 
sions to  an  admirer  of  rhyme;  the  ,dramatist,  to  a  well- 
known  patron  of  the  stage  and  of  the  drama;  the  painter 
dedicated  his  work  on  art  to  a  connoisseur, — one  whose 
skill  and  judgment  in  the  arts  had  secured  him  a  "world- 
renowned  reputation." 

In  our  day  and  country  the  sale  of  a  book  depends 

9 


10  DEDICATION. 

altogether  upon  its  own  merits  and  the  honest  criticism 
of  the  press.  Dedications,  therefore,  are  looked  upon  as 
one  of  those  liberties  an  author  can  take  with  a  friend, 
and  thus  bring  his  name  before  the  public  in  connection 
with  the  work  without  being  accused  of  selfish  or  inte- 
rested motives. 

Just  such  a  liberty  the  author  of  this  work  takes  with 
one  whom  he  is  proud  to  call  friend, — one  whose  many 
amiable  qualities  endear  him  to  all.  It  is,  therefore, 
with  much  pleasure  he  dedicates  this  work  to 

M.  HALL  STANTOJV,  Esq. 
of  Philadelphia, 

as  a  memento  of  friendship  and  of  the  many  happy  hours 
that  friendship  has  afforded. 

THE  AUTHOR. 

PHILADELPHIA. 


CONTENTS. 


I. 

PAQB 

POSTS — POST-OFFICES,  ANCIENT  AND  MODERN 13 


II. 
NIHIL  SUB  SOLE  Novi 26 

III. 

ORIGIN  OF  THE  MATERIALS  OF  WRITING,  TABLETS,  ETC 35 

IV. 
MESSENGERS,  CARRIERS,  ETC 49 

V. 
POST-OFFICES — ENGLAND 57 

VI. 
THE  KAFFIR  LETTER-CARRIER — AFRICAN  POST 88 


VII. 

POST-OFFICES — THE  COLONIES 90 

11 


12  CONTENTS. 


VIII. 

PAGH 

PENNSYLVANIA — THE  OLDEN  TIME ,.  102 


IX. 

PHILADELPHIA  POST-OFFICE — POSTS,  ETC 110 

X. 

REMINISCENCES 156 

XI. 
POSTMASTERS 187 

XII. 
PHILADELPHIA — 1793 230 

XIII. 
SPECIAL  AGENTS 319 

XIV. 
MISCELLANEOUS 365 

XV. 

TALES  OF  THE  POST-OFFICE 397 

XVI. 
ADDENDA... 410 


UNIVERSITY 


FOOT-PKINTS 


OF    A 


LETTER-CARRIER 


i. 


"  The  Post-office  is  properly  a  mercantile  project.  The  Government  ad- 
vances the  expenses  of  establishing  the  different  offices,  and  of  buying  or 
hiring  the  necessary  horses  or  carriages,  and  is  repaid  with  a  large  profit 
by  the  duties  upon  what  is  carried."  —  SMITH'S  WEALTH  OP  NATIONS. 

IN  the  earlier  periods  of  society,  communication  between 
the  parts  of  a  country  was  a  rare  and  difficult  undertaking. 
Individuals  at  a  distance,  having  little  inclination  and  less 
opportunity  for  such  intercourse,  were  naturally  satisfied 
with  their  limited  means  of  communicating  one  with 
another. 

As  civilization  advanced  and  trade  became  a  national 
feature,  these  communications  became  more  important  and, 
of  course,  more  frequent.  Our  readers  will  observe,  as  we 
progress  in  this  work,  how  it  assumes  at  last  one  of  the 
most  important  branches  of  a  government.  Indeed,  this 
it  was  destined  to  become^from  the  fact  that  it  originated 
with  tbfi  people,  and  their  interest  made  it  a  part  and  por- 
tion of  the  great  postal  system. 

Posts  and  post-offices,  as  understood  in  modern  parlance, 
are  identified  with  trade  and  commerce,  and  in  their  connec- 
tion with  letters.  The  word  post,  however,  was  used  long 

2  13 


14  POSTS— POST-  OFFICES, 

before  post-offices  were  established,  implying  a  public  esta- 
blishment of  letters,  newspapers,  &c.  In  the  Roman  Em- 
pire, couriers,  on  swift  horses,  passed  from  hand  to  hand  the 
imperial  edicts  to  every  province.  Private  letters  were 
sent  to  their  destination  by  slaves,  or  intrusted  to  casual 
opportunities. 

Although  we  are  apt  to  stigmatize  two  of  the  greatest 
nations  of  the  earth — the  Greeks  and  Romans — as  being 
uncivilized,  and  historically  termed  barbarians,  yet  were 
they  highly  educated  in  many  of  the  branches  of  litera- 
ture, art,  and  science.  The  posts  were  well  known  among 
the  Romans ;  yet  is  it  difficult  to  trace  with  certainty  the 
period  of  their  introduction.  Some  writers  carry  it  back 
to  the  time  of  the  Republic, — posts  and  post-offices,  under 
the  name  of  statores  and  station,  having  been  then,  it  is 
said,  established  by  the  Senate.  Whether  this  was  the  case 
or  not,  Suetonius  assures  us  that  Augustus  substituted  posts 
along  the  great  roads  of  the  Empire.  At  first,  the  des- 
patches were  conveyed  from  post  to  post  by  young  men 
running  on  foot  and  delivering  them  to  others  at  the  next 
route.  Post-horses  are  mentioned  in  the  Theodosian  Code, 
decursu  publico ;  but  these  were  only  the  public  horses  for 
the  use  of  the  government  messengers,  who,  before  this 
institution  was  established,  seized  every  thing  that  came  in 
their  way. 

Horace  speaks  of  the  post  as  "  means  of  conveying  rapid 
intelligence."  Flying  posts  in  the  days  of  Richard  III. 
were  used  for  military  purposes,  imparting  news  of  war, 
victory,  &c.  "  Equi  positi" — post-horses — were  common 
even  before  the  idea  of  a  general  postage-system  was  con- 
ceived. "  Post-haste"  is  a  familiar  phrase  among  the  old 
poets.  Drayton  says, — 

"A  herald  posted  away 
The  King  of  England  to  the  field  to  dare." 


ANCIENT  AND  MODERN.  15 

Virgil,  in  one  of  his  sublime  epics,  makes  use  of  this  ex- 
pression : — 

"Now  Jove  himself  hath  sent  his  fearful  mandate  through  the  skies: 
The  post  of  gods  is  come  !" 

After  the  introduction  of  letters  and  the  conveyance  of 
messages,  written  and  printed,  the  word  post  was  under- 
stood to  mean  "  to  ride  or  travel  with  post-horses ;"  "  with 
speed  or  despatch  of  post-horses."  What  it  means  now  in 
such  connection  can  only  be  explained  by  calculating  the 
speed  of  lightning. 

The  modern  post  and  post-office  form  a  part  and  portion 
of  a  government,  and  act  in  concert  with  other  great  agents 
of  civilization  in  the  formation  of  permanent  institutions. 

The  post-office  is  one  of  those  tests  by  which  the  pro- 
gressive prosperity  of  a  country  may  be  ascertained.  In 
this  respect,  perhaps  no  other  nation  in  the  world  presents 
a  more  extended  view  of  such  progress,  in  connection  with 
the  postal  system,  than  does  that  of  the  United  States.  In 
the  short  space  of  eighty  years  she  has  set  an  example,  by 
the  action  and  the  enterprise  of  her  people,  to  nations  who 
boast  of  a  political  and  national  existence  of  centuries. 

The  literary  treasures  of  England, — accumulating  from 
Alfred,  Bede,  and  Chaucer,  through  a  succession  of  en- 
lightened ages,  swelling  up  in  their  onward  progress  the 
vast  catalogue  of  science,  connecting  with  their  recorded 
mental  wealth  the  names  of  men  who  consecrated  with 
their  genius  the  age  in  which  they  flourished, — did  less 
for  her  commercial  interest,  throughout  all  those  periods, 
than  has  the  United  States  in  less  than  fifty  years. 
Enterprise  came  forth  under  the  light  of  liberty,  and 
extended  its  operations  to  every  department  of  trade, 
commerce,  art,  and  science.  England  became  alive  to  the 
fact  that  a  new  people  had  created  and  given  a  living 
principle  to  the  mechanical  workings  in  the  world  of 


16  POSTS— POST-  OFFICES, 

trade  and  commerce.  Its  operations  gave  vigor  to  action, 
and  infused  a  spirit  into  merchants  and  traders  which, 
heretofore,  followed  in  the  wake  of  monarchical  follies, 

"As  peddlers  from  town  to  town." 

We  purpose  to  speak  now  of  the  post  being  a  branch 
of  the  government,  and,  in  some  respects,  one  of  the  most 
important. 

The  post-office  department  should  be,  but  it  is  not,  a 
social  agent.  The  peculiar  character  of  a  republican 
government  is  such  that  the  post  becomes  essentially  a 
great  political  one.  Its  connection  with  an  administra- 
tion is  one  of  the  links  connecting  party  with  its  poli- 
tical interests,  and  which  becomes  broken  immediately  on 
the  success  attending  that  of  a  rival.  It  is  rotary  in  its 
motion;  hence  the  various  changes  which  necessarily  occur 
at  elections  have  a  tendency  to  retard,  rather  than  ad- 
vance, the  postal  system  on  its  road  to  perfection.  Indeed, 
it  is  not  assuming  too  much  if  we  say  that  civil  liberty, 
practically  speaking,  partly  consists  in  these  changes ;  for 
opposition  is  an  essential  and  vital  element  of  such 
liberty,  and  opposition,  with  these  possible  changes,  would 
have  little  or  no  meaning.  If,  however,  they  were  limited 
to  the  heads  of  the  department,  and  not  extending  down 
to  the  humblest  workers  in  the  office,  the  evil  effects  ever 
attending  on  such  changes  would  not  so  materially  operate 
against  its  interests,  and,  of  course,  that  of  the  community. 
A  general  sweep  of  the  employees  of  any  one  State  or  govern- 
ment department  makes  the  whole  system  a  gigantic  politi- 
cal, rather  than  what  it  should  be,  a  social,  institution. 

In  whatever  light,  however,  we  view  the  post-office,  it 
presents  to  us  a  subject  of  the  highest  interest.  Connect 
it  with  commerce,  and  it  assumes  the  power  of  a  "  Merlin/7 
whose  magic  wand,  raised  in  the  ages  of  superstition, 
astonished  the  world !  Connect  it  with  the  arts,  and  na- 


ANCIENT  AND  MODERN.  17 

tions  are  brought  together  by  the  mere  stroke  of  the  pen ! 
Associate  it  with  science,  religion, — in  fact,  with  any  of  the 
prominent  features  which  make  up  civilized  life, — it  becomes 
at  once  the  great  medium  through  which  their  mysteries 
and  developments  are  made  manifest  to  all. 

Viewed  historically,  we  trace  the  history  of  the  post  to 
Moses,  and  the  peopled  countries,  even  to  the  children  of 
Canaan,  in  the  swamps  of  Egypt.  We  link  it  with  the 
hieroglyphic,  or  symbolical,  characters  of  that  age,  long 
before  Hermes  substituted  alphabetical  signs.  We  follow 
it  up,  through  sacred  and  profane  history,  to  the  exclusive 
royal  messengers  in  Persia  mentioned  by  Herodotus,  and 
the  grant  of  the  postal  establishment  as  an  imperial  fief, 
made  by  Charles  V.  to  the  princely  family  of  Thurn  and 
Taxis,  and  from  that  down  to  the  establishing  of  that  sys- 
tem which  is  now  followed  by  all  civilized  nations. 

The  making  a  branch  of  a  government  an  hereditary 
one,  particularly  that  of  the  postal,  could  only  have  ori- 
ginated under  the  genial  rule  of  Charles.  The  family  of 
Thurn  and  Taxis  held  the  post-office  as  a  fief,  given  to 
them  by  the  Emperor  Charles  V.,  and  they  continued  to 
hold  it  long  after  the  different  German  States  had  become 
independent.  Of  course,  like  all  such  fiefs,  (even  those  of 
Saxon  notoriety,)  it  became,  in  time — instead  of  what  the 
true  meaning  implied,  "  fealty  or  fidelity,"  to  "  keep  and 
sustain  any  thing  granted  and  held  upon  oath,  &c." — a 
most  vile  and  corrupt  institution.* 

*  In  1516  a  regular  line  of  posts  was  established  in  the  Tyrol,  connect- 
ing Germany  and  Italy,  by  Roger,  Count  of  Thurn  and  Taxis.  His  success- 
ors received  from  the  Emperor  of  Germany  repeated  enfeoffments  of  the  im- 
perial post,  and  extended  it  over  the  greatest  part  of  Germany  and  Italy. 
Venice,  Genoa,  Leghorn,  and  Naples  were  thus  connected  with  Hamburg, 
Bremen,  Lubeck,  and  Frankfort-on-the-Main  ;  and  the  active  commerce 
which  had  sprung  up  between  these  cities  became  facilitated  by  such 
postal  advantages  as  the  system  afforded.  The  Counts  of  Thurn  and 
Taxis  retained  their  postal  monopoly  till  the  fall  of  the  German  Empire. 

2* 


18  THE  FIRST  RECORDED  RIDING-POST. 

THE  FIRST  RECORDED  RIDING-POST. 

The  first  recorded  riding-post  was  established  in 
Persia,  by  Cyrus,  599  B.  c.  Cyrus  was  the  son  of  Cam- 
byses,  King  of  Persia,  and  Mandane,  daughter  of  Astyages, 
King  of  the  Medes.  The  history  of  Cyrus  is  a  lesson 
worthy  to  be  read  by  all  who  can  appreciate  in  one  man 
all  those  elements  which  combine  to  make  a  great  one. 
He  was  educated  according  to  the  Persian  institutions,  of 
which  Xenophon  gives  such  glowing  accounts.  Among 
the  numerous  inventions  he  made  and  carried  into  opera- 
tion, that  of  the  posts  and  couriers,  to  facilitate  the  trans- 
portation of  letters,  was  probably  the  most  important. 
He  caused  post-houses  to  be  built  and  messengers  to  be 
appointed  in  every  province.  There  were  one  hundred 
and  twenty  provinces.  Having  calculated  how  far  a  good 
horse  with  a  brisk  rider  could  go  in  a  day,  without  being 
spoiled,  he  had  stables  built  in  proportion,  at  equal  dis- 
tances from  each  other, .  and  had  them  furnished  with 
horses  and  grooms  to  take  care  of  them.  He  likewise 
appointed  a  "postmaster,"  to  receive  the  packets  from 
the  couriers  as  they^  arrived,  and  give  them  to  others, 
and  to  take  the  horses  and  furnish  fresh  ones.  Thus,  the 
post  went  continually,  night  and  day,  with  extraordinary 
speed.  Herodotus  speaks  of  the  same  sort  of  couriers  in 
the  reign  of  Xerxes.  He  speaks  of  eleven  postal  stages, 
a  day's  journey  distant  from  one  another,  between  Susa 
and  the  .ZEgean  Sea.* 

*  Ambassadors  and  heralds — those  sacred  ministers  of  the  kings  of 
Greece  in  that  primitive  age  of  civilization  and  the  cultivation  of  the 
arts — were  the  "posts"  by  which  demands  were  made  by  one  power 
from  another,  and  redresses  and  grievances  settled.  These  heralds 
were  equally  respected  by  friends  and  foes.  They  travelled  in  safety 
through  the  midst  of  embattled  hosts,  proclaimed  to  the  silent  war- 
riors the  commissions  with  which  they  were  intrusted,  or  demanded,  in 
return,  truce,  or  time  to  consult  and  settle  disputes,  &c. 


THE  FIRST  RECORDED  RIDING-POST.  19 

These  couriers  were  called  in  the  Persian  language  by  a 
name  signifying,  as  near  as  we  can  comprehend  it,  "ser- 
vice by  compulsion."  The  superintendency  of  the  posts  be- 
came a  considerable  employment.  Darius,  the  last  of  the 
Persian  kings,  had  it  before  he  came  to  the  crown.  Xeno- 
phon  notices  the  fact  that  this  establishment  subsisted  still 
in  his  time,  which  perfectly  agrees  with  what  is  related  in 
the  book  of  Esther  concerning  the  edict  published  by 
Ahasuerus  in  favor  of  the  Jews,  which  edict  was  carried 
through  that  vast  empire  with  a  rapidity  that  would  have 
been  impossible  without  these  posts  erected  by  Cyrus.* 

Persia,  in  some  respects,  has  not  kept  pace  with  the  pro- 
gress of  other  nations,  or  carried  out  those  plans  of  govern- 
ment and  schemes  which  Cyrus  originated  in  his  early 
reign.  Traces  of  a  race  far  more  energetic  than  the  pre- 
sent inhabitants  of  Persia  are  found  in  various  parts  of  the 
kingdom.  The  ruins  of  many  ancfent  cities  scattered  over 
the  land  are  imposing  and  grand,  especially  those  of  Per- 
sepolis.  Next  to  the  pyramids  of  Egypt  and  the  colossal 
ruins  of  Thebes,  they  have  attracted  the  attention  of  tra- 
vellers, and,  like  them,  still  remain  an  enigma, — their  his- 
tory, dates,  and  objects  being  involved  in  the  gloom  of 
antiquity.  These  evidences  prove  the  existence  of  a  state 
of  refinement  in  art  in  the  sixth  century,  scarcely  equalled, 
certainly  not  excelled,  since,  and  fully  sustain  the  data 
given  to  that  wonderful  discovery, — the  establishing  the 


*  "And  he  wrote  in  the  king  Ahasuerus'  name,  and  sealed  it  with 
the  king's  ring,  and  sent  letters  by  posts  on  horseback,  and  riders  ou 
mules,  camels,  and  young  dromedaries." — Esther  viii.  10. 

"  There  is  no  doubt  every  available  means  of  conveyance  were  adopted 
to  carry  these  important  letters  throughout  the  kingdom,  as  the  great- 
est speed  was  needful  in  the  emergency.  He  sent  men  on  horseback, 
and  upon  other  creatures  as  swift  as  horses,  and  upon  mules,  both 
young  and  old,  according  as  the  places  were  nearer  or  farther  off. 
So  he  ordered  the  letters  to  be  sent  by  post." — Bp.  Patrick. 


20  THE  FIRST  RECORDED  RIDING-POST. 

postal  system  and  the  first  introduction  of  the  "riding- 
post."* 

In  the  highest  eras  of  their  civilization,  neither  the 
Greeks  nor  the  Komans  had  a  public  letter-post;  though 
the  conveyance  of  letters  is  as  much  a  matter  of  necessity 
and  convenience  as  the  conveyance  of  persons  and  mer- 
chandise. 

There  were  stationese  and  mounted  messengers,  called 
tabellariij  who  went  in  charge  of  the  public  despatches; 
but  they  were  strictly  forbidden  to  convey  letters  for  pri- 
vate persons. 

In  the  time  of  Augustus,  post-houses  were  established 
throughout  the  kingdom,  and  post-horses  stationed  at 
equal  distances  to  facilitate  the  transmission  of  letters,  &c. 
Under  his  reign,  literature  flourished,  many  salutary  laws 
were  established,  3nd  he  so  embellished  Rome  that  he  was 
declared  "  to  have  fount!  it  brick  and  left  it  marble."  He 
was  born  at  Rome,  B.  c.  63,  died  at  Nola  in  the  seventy- 
sixth  year  of  his  age. 

We  have  alluded  to  the  fact  of  nations,  considerably 
advanced  in  civilization  at  the  early  period  of  the  world's 
history,  being  without  a  public  post  for  the  conveyance  of 
letters.  Yet,  when  we  take  into  consideration  that  trade  and 
commerce  were  then  »in-  their  infancy,  simple  messengers 
only  were  required.  Indeed,  letters  at  that  period  were 
only  written  when  great  occasions  called  them  forth. 
What  with  us  is  now  a  pleasure,  was  with  the  ancients 
a  task. 

It  was  not  until  the  year  807  that  a  postal  service  was 

*  The  ruins  of  the  palace  of  Persepolis  are  still  to  be  seen  near 
Istaker,  on  the  right  bank  of  the  united  waters  of  the  Medus  and  the 
Araxes.  Travellers  speak  of  them  with  admiration,  not  unmixed  with 
awe.  Many  pillars  still  remain  standing, — a  melancholy  monument  of 
the  wealth,  taste,  and  civilization  of  the  Persians,  and,  in  this  instance, 
of  the  barbarian  vengeance  of  the  Greeks. 


THE  FIRST  RECORDED  RIDING-POST.  21 

established  by  the  Emperor  Charlemagne,— r-a  service  which 
did  not  survive  him.  This,  however,  differed  very  little 
from  that  which  was  framed  by  Cyrus. 

The  first  actual  letter-post  system,  connecting  countries 
together  by  communications,  furthering  the  cause  of  trade 
and  commerce,  and  established  to  facilitate  the  conveyance 
of  letters  throughout  the  commercial  world,  originated  in 
the  manufacturing  and  business  districts  of  the  "  Hanse 
Towns."  The  confederacy  was  established  in  1169. 

So  early  as  the  thirteenth  century  this  federation  of  the 
republics  required  constant  communication  with  each  other ; 
and  it  became  almost  a  necessity  of  their  existence  that 
some  letter-post  system  should  be  established. 

The  society  termed  the  "Association  of  the  Hanse- 
towns,"  is  better  known  in  history  under  the  name  of 
"  The  Hanseatic  League."  It  consisted  chiefly  of  mer- 
chants,— men  who  had  brought  commerce  to  all  the  perfec- 
tion it  was  capable  of  acquiring  at  that  period,  which  may 
justly  be  termed  the  dawn  of  our  great  commercial  history. 
It  was  under  this  league  the  banking  system,  exchanges, 
and  the  principles  of  book-keeping,  with  double  entries, 
and  various  other  practices  which  facilitate  and  secure 
commercial  intercourse,  originated.  We  speak  here  of  the 
banking  system  only.  Banks  existed  long  prior  to  this 
date,  but  in  a  very  different  form.  Those  of  the  ninth 
century  were  literally  "  benches,"  from  the  custom  of  the 
Italian  merchants  exposing  money  to  lend  on  a  "  banco," 
or  bench,  or  tables. 

The  towns  of  the  "  Hanseatic  League"  were  originally 
a  confederacy  united  in  an  alliance  for  the  mutual  sup- 
port and  encouragement  of  their  commerce.  Perhaps  the 
world's  history  does  not  present  an  example  so  fraught 
with  interest  to  the  commercial  world  than  that  which 
was  here  furnished.  Industry,  application,  a  union  of 
interests,  combined  with  a  general  knowledge  of  trade  and 


22  THE  FIRST  RECORDED  RIDING-POST. 

commerce,  the  league  soon  became  the  wonder  of  sur- 
rounding nations,  who  not  only  imitated  its  example,  but 
followed  its  precepts.  It  was  under  its  dynasty  the  postal 
system  was  established  and  communications  of  post-routes 
opened  with  all  the  towns.  In  proportion  as  the  reputa- 
tion, opulence,  and  forces  of  the  league  subsequently 
changed  to  "  The  Hanseatic  Confederacy"  increased,  there 
were  few  towns  of  note  in  Europe  that  were  not  associated 
with  it.  Thus,  France  furnished  to  the  confederacy  Rouen, 
St.  Malo,  Bordeaux,  Bayonne,  and  Marseilles.  Spain: 
Cadiz,  Barcelona,  and  Seville.  Portugal :  Lisbon.  Italy 
and  Sicily :  Messina,  Leghorn,  and  Naples.  Russia :  Novo- 
gorod.  Norway :  Bergen,  &c.  Lastly,  England  furnished 
London  to  this  celebrated  association,  whose  warehouses 
and  factories  were  the  wonder  and  the  admiration  of  the 
commercial  world.*  As  we  have  said,  it  was  under  this 
league  the  first  practical  post  system  was  established ;  and 
its  legitimate  object  and  purpose  was  only  interfered  with 
when  it  became  subject  to  a  higher  power. 

This  great  commercial  league  fully  sustained  the  opinion 
— at  least  entertained  at  that  period — that  "  Commerce 
alone  is  sufficient  to  insure  greatness."  Subsequent  events, 
arising  out  of  the  political  elements  of  a  country,  afford 
convincing  proofs  that  something  more  substantial  than 
commerce  is  requisite  to  maintain  the  independence  of  any 
nation.  This,  however,  is  a  question  which  involves  that 
of  the  laws  of  nations  and  the  ethics  of  political  economy. 
Mr.  Oddy  ascribes  the  downfall  of  the  Hanse  Confederacy 
to  their  becoming  warlike,  and  preferring  political  import- 
ance to  wealth  obtained  by  their  original  modes.  It  is, 
however,  probable  that  no  system  of  policy,  either  com- 
mercial or  political,  however  wise  or  moderate,  could  have 


*  See  Oddy's  European  Commerce ;  Anderson's  History  of  Commerce, 
and  Historical  Disquisitions  of  India. 


THE  FIRST  RECORDED  RIDING-POST.  23 

prevented  the  wars  in  which  the  Hanseatic  League  were 
involved.  They  stood  on  the  defensive  against  their  hos- 
tile neighbors,  whose  envy  and  jealousy  were  excited  by 
the  showy  wealth  of  these  cities.  If  commerce,  therefore, 
brought  on  these  wars,  and  defeated  the  great  object  of  the 
league,  it  is  evident  that  something  more  powerful  than 
commercial  sway  was  necessary  to  keep  it  in  contact  with 
the  agricultural  and  political  interests  of  the  nation.* 

The  combination  of  agriculture,  manufactures,  and  com- 
merce is  no  doubt  the  true  cause  of  greatness, — the  opu- 
lence and  power  of  those  nations  who  study  the  interest 
of  each  alike.  It  ought  therefore  to  be  the  policy  of  the 
rulers  to  guard  the  progress  of  these  great  branches  with 
the  same  fostering  care  and  protection, — to  encourage  one 
without  depressing  the  other ;  and  to  watch  their  reciprocal 
bearings,  connection,  and  affinity,  that  the  general  interest 
may  be  promoted  and  the  resources  consolidated  into  a 
mass  of  strength  adequate  or  superior  to  the  power  of 
their  enemies.  The  United  States  has  not  lost  sight  of 
this  fact ;  and  hence  every  department  of  its  great  interests 
is  alike  defended,  protected,  and  encouraged.  We  may 
have  wars;  but  they  will  never  arise  from  our  neglect  of 
any  one  particular  branch  of  the  government,  or  of  its 
source  of  revenue. 

Perhaps  no  city  in  the  world  presented  a  greater 
display  of  wealth  than  did  that  of  Bruges  in  the  year 
1301.  She  was  one  of  the  cities  of  the  confederacy. 
It  contained  in  that  year  sixty-eight  companies  of 
traders  and  artificers,  while  its  citizens  rivalled  many 
of  the  European  monarchs  in  their  sumptuous  mode  of 
living.  Some  idea  of  their  splendor  may  be  formed  from 
the  following  anecdote,  recorded  by  Dr.  Robinson  in  his 
"Historical  Disquisitions,"  who  relates  that,  in  the  year 

*  Dr.  James  Mease.    1811. 


24  THE  FIRST  RECORDED  RIDING-POST. 

1301,  Joanna  of  Navarre,  the  wife  of  Philip  the  Fair,  of 
France,  having  been  some  days  in  Bruges,  was  so  much 
struck  with  the  splendor  of  the  city  and  its  grandeur,  as 
well  as  the  rich  and  costly  dresses  of  the  "  citizen's  wives," 
that  she  was  moved  by  female  envy  to  exclaim  with  indig- 
nation,— "  I  thought  that  I  had  been  the  only  queen  here ; 
but  I  find  that  there  are  many  hundreds  more." 

The  Hanse  Towns  had  attained  the  summit  of  their 
power  in  1428;  but  they  began  to  decline  the  moment 
they  became  warlike, — thus  neglecting  their  great  commer- 
cial power,  wealth,  and  influence.  The  rise  of  Holland 
accelerated  their  decline ;  and  the  general  attention  which 
other  nations  began  to  pay  to  manufactures  and  commerce, 
by  distributing  them  more  generally  and  equally  amongst 
the  people  in  different  parts  of  Europe,  destroyed  that 
superiority  which  they  had  so  long  enjoyed. 

The  number  and  variety  of  the  military  undertakings 
in  which  the  Hanse  Towns  embarked,  contributed  more 
powerfully,  perhaps,  than  any  of  the  causes  above  specified 
to  accelerate  their  ruin.  A  general  jealousy  was  raised; 
and  the  kings  of  France,  Spain,  and  Denmark,  and  several 
States  of  Italy,  forbid  their  towns  to  continue  members  of 
the  confederacy.  Upon  this,  the  Teutonic  Hanse  Towns 
restricted  the  confederacy  to  Germany.  About  the  middle 
of  the  seventeenth  century  the  confederacy  was  almost 
wholly  confined  to  the  towns  of  Hamburg,  Lubeck,  and 
Bremen.  They  retained  the  appellation  of  the  Hanseatic 
Towns,  and  claimed  their  former  privileges,  among  which 
their  postal  system  was  included.  Under  the  appellation 
of  the  Hanse  Towns  they  were  recognized  at  the  peace  of 
Utrecht,  in  1715,  and  at  the  Definite  Treaty  of  Indemnity, 
in  1805, — almost  the  last  moment  of  their  political  exist- 
ence.* 

*  Historical  Sketch  of  the  Progress  of  Trade  (1811). 


THE  FIRST  RECORDED  RIDING-POST.  25 

The  first  serious  blow  struck  the  postal  system  was  that 
which  it  received  from  the  Emperor  Maximilian.  He 
established  a  post  between  Austria  and  Normandy,  and, 
as  a  sort  of  retaliatory  measure,  made  it  an  espionage  over 
his  subjects  through  the  medium  of  their  correspondence, 
and  also  for  the  purpose  of  enriching  himself  by  the 
profits  of  the  enterprise.  Fortunately,  however,  for  the 
cause  of  justice  and  of  letters,  Maximilian  died  before  he 
had  inflicted  this  great  wrong  on  the  people  to  any  extent. 
He  died  January  12,  1519. 

Having  brought  the  reader  to  this  point  of  our  postal 
history,  it  may  not  be  out  of  place  before  we  reach  the 
fifteenth  century — when  it  assumed  a  very  different  aspect 
— to  give  some  account  of  the  earlier  history  of  art,  pastoral 
life,  language,  writing  materials,  letters,  &cv  more  or  less 
connected  with  our  subject. 


26  NIHIL  SUB  SOLE  NOVL 


II. 

$  tit 


"  There  is  nothing  new  under  the  sun."     "  There  "is  no  new  thing/'  says 
Solomon,  "under  the  sun." 

We  cannot  speak  of  any  thing,  either  of  a  useful  or 
ornamental  character,  but  we  invariably  cast  our  eyes  over 
the  ages  of  the  world  and  trace  up,  or  rather  back,  to  its 
earliest  period,  their  very  origin.  There  is  scarcely  an  art 
or  a  science  of  which  we  boast  now  but  owes  its  existence 
to  the  past  ages.  We  have  the  proofs  on  their  paintings, 
their  mechanics,  their  arts,  and  sciences:  these  are  the 
evidences  to  prove  how  far  they  had  advanced  in  know- 
ledge before  the  world's  revolutions  cast  them  back  again 
to  ignorance  and  gloom.  With  the  downfall  of  cities  — 
crumbling  away  under  the  fiat  of  the  Almighty,  or  swal- 
lowed up  by  earthquakes  —  went  the  genius  of  ages  ;  and 
from  their  ruins  and  the  debris  of  classic  temples  came 
those  traces  of  high  art  of  which  no  other  living  evidences 
bore  witness.  The  secret  went  down  amid  their  tottering 
ruins,  and  left  to  after-ages  the  simple  task  of  imitating 
their  monumental  sculptured  beauties  and  fresco  painting 
on  the  shattered  walls  of  their  ruined  temples. 

Well,  then,  may  we  exclaim  with  Solomon, 

"There  is  no  new  thing  under  the  sun." 

George  R.  Gliddon,  in  his  great  work  of  "Ancient 
Egypt,"  speaking  of  the  state  of  the  arts  in  the  earliest 
ages  of  Egyptian  history,  says:  — 

"  Will  not  the  historian  deign  to  notice  the  prior  origin 
of  every  art  and  science  in  Egypt  a  thousand  years  before 


NIHIL  SUB  SOLE  NOVL  27 

the  Pelasgians  studded  the  isles  and  capes  of  the  Archi- 
pelago with  their  forts  and  temples, — long  before  Etruscan 
civilization  had  smiled  on  Italian  skies  ?  And  shall  not  the 
ethnographer,  versed  in  Egyptian  lore,  proclaim  the  fact 
that  the  physiological,  craniological,  capillary,  and  cuticular 
distinctions  of  the  human  race  existed  on  the  distribution 
of  mankind  throughout  the  earth?" 

Philologists,  astronomers,  chemists,  painters,  architects, 
physicians  must  return  to  Egypt  to  learn  the  origin  of 
language  and  writing ;  of  the  calendar  and  solar  motion ; 
of  the  art  of  cutting  granite  with  a  copper  chisel  and 
giving  elasticity  to  a  copper  sword;  of  making  glass  with 
the  variegated  hues  of  the  rainbow;  of  moving  single 
blocks  of  polished  sienite  900  tons  in  weight  for  any  dis- 
tance by  land  and  water;  of  building  arches,  round  and 
pointed,  with  masonic  precision  unsurpassed  at  the  present 
day,  and  antecedent,  by  2000  years,  to  the  "  Cloaca  Magna" 
of  Rome;  of  sculpturing  a  Doric  column  1000  years 
before  the  Dorians  are  known  in  history;  of  fresco  painting 
in  imperishable  colors;  and  of  practical  knowledge  in 
anatomy. 

"Every  craftsman  can  behold  in  Egyptian  monuments 
the  progress  of  his  art  4000  years  ago ;  and,  whether  it  be 
a  wheelwright  building  a  chariot,  a  shoemaker  drawing 
his  twine,  a  leather-cutter  using  the  self-same  form  of  a 
knife  of  old  as  is  considered  the  best  form  now,  a  weaver 
throwing  the  same  hand-shuttle,  a  whitesmith  using  that 
identical  form  of  blowpipe  but  lately  recognized  to  be  the 
most  efficient,  the  seal-engraver  cutting  in  hieroglyphics 
such  names  as  Shooph's  above  4300  years  ago,  or  even 
the  poulterer  removing  the  pip  from  geese,  all  these  and 
many  more  astounding  evidences  of  Egyptian  priority 
now  require  but  a  glance  at  the  plates  of  Rosellini." 

Perhaps  the  post-office,  being  a  more  modern  invention, 
the  result  of  man's  progress,  and  its  use  essential  to  his 


28  PASTORAL  LIFE. 

present  wants  and  governmental  requirements,  claims 
more  originality  than  many  of  those  inventions  which  a 
ruder  state  of  society  devised.  And  yet  even  here  we 
actually  owe  to  those  ages  much  of  the  material  which 
makes  up  our  great  postal  superstructure.  We  learned 
from  tnem  how  messengers,  couriers,  and  the  transmitting 
of  letters  formed  an  important  part  of  their  social  system, 
and  how  it  ultimately  grew  into  a  political  one,  under 
kings  and  emperors,  through  all  subsequent  ages. 

PASTORAL  LIFE. 

"Nothing  great,  nothing  useful,  nothing  high  and  ennobling,  nothing 
worthy  of  man's  nature,  of  his  lofty  origin  and  ultimate  exalted  destiny  has 
ever  been  accomplished  but  by  toil;  by  diligent  and  well-directed  effort,  by 
the  busy  hand  guided  in  its  effort  by  the  wise,  thoughtful,  hard-workimg 
brain." — Anon. 

When  God  said,  "Let  there  be  light:  and  there  was 
light,"  it  was  not  the  mere  flash  of  the  brightness  of 
heaven  over  the  earth,  but  a  light  that  was  to  be  as  lasting 
as  creation  itself. 

Every  thing  that  sprung  up  from  the  earth  in  its  order 
and  beauty  received  the  spirit  of  a  new  life  from  this  holy 
and  divine  light.  And  when  man  in  the  image  of  his 
Maker  stood  in  the  Garden  of  Eden,  there  shone  around 
him  another  light, — an  emanation  from  God  himself.  Mind 
— intellect — power ! 

Man  was  the  pioneer  of  the  science  of  government. 
Deity  planned  it,  and,  as  the  crowning  work  of  his 
creation,  said: — 

"Let  us  make  man  in  our  image,  after  our  likeness:  and 
let  them  have  dominion  over  the  fish  of  the  sea,  and  over  the 
fowl  of  the  air,  and  over  the  cattle,  and  over  all  the  earth, 
and  over  every  creeping  thing  that  creepeth  upon  the  earth." 

As  the  earth  became  peopled  the  wants  of  man  called 
forth  all  those  energies  requisite  to  sustain  life  by  labor  or 


PASTORAL  LIFE.  29 

otherwise;  and  these  brought  forth  the  mind's  attributes 
combined,  and  the  world  became  a  mirror  reflecting  Him 
who  created  it. 

Pastoral  life,  in  the  early  ages  of  the  world's  history, 
afforded  in  itself  the  means  of  providing  for  the  wants  of 
man.  This  led  to  the  cultivation  of  the  soil  and  the  raising 
of  cattle. 

Before  the  flood,  Abel  was  a  keeper  of  sheep,  and  Jabez 
was  the  father  of  such  as  dwell  in  tents  and  have  cattle. 
Then  came  trades  and  professions.  These  led  to  art,  art  to 
science;  and,  as  their  numbers  increased,  they  soon  found 
that  their  sources  from  which  they  derived  their  subsist- 
ence— the  spontaneous  fruits  of  the  earth  and  the  flesh  of 
wild  animals  killed  in  the  chase — were  insufficient  to 
maintain  them.  Hence  they  were  obliged  to  have  recourse 
to  other  means.  Property  being  established  and  ascer- 
tained, men  began  to  exchange  one  rude  commodity  for 
another.  While  their  wants  and  desires  were  confined 
within  narrow  bounds,  they  had  no  other  idea  of  traffic 
but  that  of  simple  barter.  The  husbandman  exchanged  a 
part  of  his  harvest  for  the  cattle  of  the  shepherd;  the 
hunter  gave  the  prey  which  he  had  caught  at  the  chase  for 
the  honey  and  the  fruits  which  his  neighbor  had  gathered 
in  the  woods.  Thus,  commercial  intercourse  began  and 
extended  throughout  the  community.  It  reached  still 
farther.  It  passed  in  its  onward  career  from  city  to  «ity, 
and  from  kingdom  to  kingdom,  till  at  last  it  comprehended 
and  united  the  remotest  regions  of  the  earth. 

Then  came  trades  and  professions.  These  led  to  art,  art 
to  science,  and  science  to  the  highest  degree  of  knowledge 
the  human  mind  is  capable  of  attaining.  Men  became 
great:  greatness  led  to  power, — power  to  rule  and  govern. 
The  combining  of  all  these  elementary  steps  led  to  the 
creation  of  kings,  emperors,  and  lords.  Then  followed 
the  division  of  classes.  The  phases  of  human  intellect 

3* 


30  LANGUAGE. 

harmonized  the  whole  system  of  rule,  and  men  acknow- 
ledged in  time  the  one  great  axiom,  that  "  Knowledge  is 
power." 

As  language,  writing,  and  writing-materials  are  all, 
more  or  less,  connected  with  any  subject  identified  with 
the  welfare,  the  interest,  and  honor  of  a  nation,  as  well 
as  of  mankind,  they  will  not  be  considered  out  of  place 
if  alluded  to  here  in  connection  with  the  subject  of  this 
work.  First : — 

LANGUAGE. 

Blair,  in  his  introduction  to  his  Lectures  on  Rhetoric, 
speaking  of  language,  says : — "  One  of  the  most  distin- 
guished privileges  which  Providence  has  conferred  upon 
mankind  is  the  power  of  communicating  their  thoughts  to 
one  another.  Destitute  of  this  power,  reason  would  be  a 
solitary  and,  in  some  measure,  an  unavoidable  principle. 
Speech  is  the  great  instrument  by  which  man  becomes  be- 
neficial to  man;  and  it  is  to  the  intercourse  and  trans- 
mission of  thought,  by  means  of  speech,  that  we  are 
chiefly  indebted  for  the  improvement  of  thought  itself." 

Tooke,  in  one  of  his  admirable  golden  sentences,  says : — 
"  The  first  aim  of  language  was  to  communicate  our 
thoughts ;  the  second,  to  do  it  with  dispatch." 

"  And  all  the  worlde  was  of  one  tongue  and  one  lan- 
guage."— Bible,  1551,  Gen.  xi. 

Language  came  into  the  world  along  with  all  things 
that  had  life.  It  was  the  voice  of  nature  speaking  through 
things  animate,  giving  form  and  harmony  to  objects  ani- 
mate as  well  as  inanimate ;  and  all  of  which,  as  soon  as 
created,  God  pronounced  good. 

Flowers  had  their  language,  and  there  was  music  in  the 
spheres.  Trees  murmured  through  their  deep  forest-home 
long  before  the  woodman's  axe  stripped  them  of  their 
mode  of  expressing  their  wild  seolian  sounds  to  each  other. 


LANGUAGE.  31 

And  there  was  language  in  waterfalls,  mountain  cataracts, 
as  well  as  music  in  the  sound,  though  expressed  in 
thunder-tones  ;  and,  as  the  spirit  of  Deity  passed  over  the 
earth,  all  living  things  found  tongue,  thought,  expression, 
and  the  human  voice  syllabled  the  words  and  commands 
of  its  Maker.  Language,  therefore,  is  a  divine  institu- 
tion. 

Horace,  Pliny,  Juvenal,  and  others,  held  the  opinion 
that  it  was  a  divine  institution,  and  only  reached  its  pre- 
sent state  after  a  long  and  gradual  improvement  of  the 
human  family. 

Many  of  the  ancient  philosophers  and  poets  believed 
that  men  were  originally  "  a  dumb,  low  herd." 

"  Mutum  et  turpe  pecus." 

Lord  Monboddo  —  who,  in  his  work  on  "  the  Origin  of 
Language,"  labors  to  prove  that  man  is  but  a  higher  spe- 
cies of  monkey  —  thinks  that  originally  the  human  race 
had  only  a  few  monosyllables,  such  as,  Ha,  he,  hi,  ho, 
by  which,  like  beasts,  they  expressed  "certain  emotions. 
Others,  again,  assert  that  the  early  races  were  in  all  things 
rude  and  savage,  totally  ignorant  of  the  arts,  unable  to 
communicate  with  each  other,  except  in  the  imperfect 
manner  of  beasts,  and  sensible  of  nothing  save  hunger, 
pain,  and  similar  emotions.  Cicero,  alluding  to  the  human 
race  in  primeval  ages,  says  :  — 

"There  was  a  time  when  men  wandered  everywhere 
through  life  after  the  manner  of  beasts,  and  supported 
themselves  by  eating  the  food  of  beasts.  Fields  and 
mountains,  hills  and  dales  were  alike  their  homes." 

Rousseau  represents  men  as  originally  without  language, 
as  unsocial  by  nature,  and  totally  ignorant  of  the  ties  of 
society.  He  does  not,  however,  seek  to  explain  how  lan- 
guage arose,  being  disheartened  at  the  outset  by  the  diffi- 
culty of  deciding  whether  language  was  more  necessary  for 


OFTHE 

UNIVERSITY 


32  LANGUAGE. 

the  institution  of  society,  or  society  for  the  invention  of 
language. 

Language  is  beyond  doubt  a  divine  institution,  in- 
vented by  Deity,  and  by  him  made  known  to  the  human 
race.  If  language  was  devised  by  man,  the  invention 
would  not  have  been  at  once  matured,  but  must  have 
been  the  result  of  the  necessities  and  experience  of  success- 
ive generations.  Adam  and  Eve,  in  the  garden  of  Eden, 
spoke  a  language  the  purity  of  which  continued  until  its 
final  disruption  at  the  building  of  the  Tower  of  Babel. 

What  language  is  more  beautiful  and  expressive  than 
that  of  the  Hebrew  ?  It  is  the  language  of  Deity,  and 
it  pleased  our  Lord  Jesus  to  make  use  of  it  when  he  spake 
from  heaven  unto  Paul. 

There  are  said  to  be  no  less  than  3425  known  languages 
in  use  in  the  world,  of  which  937  are  Asiatic,  588  Euro- 
pean, 276  African,  and  1624  American  languages  and 
dialects. 

By  calculation  from  the  best  dictionaries,  for  each  of  the 
following  languages  there  are  about  20,000  words  in  the 
Spanish,  22,000  in  the  English,  38,000  in  the  Latin, 
30,000  in  the  French,  45,000  in  the  Italian,  50,000  in  the 
Greek,  and  80,000  in  the  German. 

In  the  estimate  of  the  number  of  words  in  the  English 
language  it  includes,  of  course,  not  only  the  radical  words, 
but  also  derivatives,  except  the  preterites  and  participles 
of  verbs ;  to  which  must  be  added  some  few  terms  which, 
though  set  down  in  the  dictionaries,  are  either  obsolete  or 
have  never  ceased  to  be  considered  foreign.  Of  these 
about  23,000,  or  nearly  five-eighths,  are  of  Anglo-Saxon 
origin. 

The  alphabets  of  different  nations  contain  the  following 
number  of  letters  : — English,  26  ;  French,  23 ;  Italian, 
20;  Spanish,  27;  German,  26;  Sclavonic,  27;  Russian, 


LANGUAGE.  33 

41;  Latin,  22;  Hebrew,  22;    Greek,  24^*  Arabic,  28; 
Persian,  32  ;  Turkish,  33 ;  Sanscrit,  50 ;  Chinese,  214. 

Anthony  Brewer  (1617)  thus  characterized  those  best 
known : — 

"  The  ancient  Hebrew,  clad  with  mysteries ; 
The  learned  Greek,  rich  in  fit  epithets, 
Blest  in  the  lovely  marriage  of  pure  words ; 
The  Chaldean  wise  ;  the  Arabian  physical ; 
The  Roman  eloquent ;  the  Tuscan  grave ; 
The  braving  Spanish,  and  the  smooth-tong'd 
French." 

'  The  Hebrew  language  and  letters  are  derived  from  the 
Phoenician,  since  Tyre,  Sidon,  &c.  were  distinguished 
cities  in  the  age  of  Moses  and  Joshua.  Even  Abraham 
lived  in  their  territory. 

Sanscrit  is  the  basis  of  Hindoo  learning,  and  said  to  be 
the  first  character. 

The  most  ancient  Arabic,  called  Kufick,  so  named  from 
Kufa,  on  the  Euphrates,  and  not  now  in  use.  The 
modern  Arabic  was  invented  by  the  Vizier  Moluch,  A.  D. 
933,  in  which  he  wrote  the  Koran. 

Armenian  is  used  in  Armenia,  Asia  Minor,  Syria,  Tar- 
tary,  &c.  It  approaches  the  Chaldean  or  Syriac,  and  the 
Greek. 

Chaldean,  Phoenician,  or  Syriac,  ascribed  to  Adam, 
Enoch,  Noah,  Abraham,  and  Moses,  is  the  same  as  the 
Hebrew. 

The  Coptic  is  an  alphabet  so  called  from  Coptos  in 
Egypt, — a  mixture  of  Greek  and  Egyptian. 

•*  To  Cadmus,  who  founded  the  kingdom  of  Thebes  [1448  B.C.],  is 
ascribed  the  introduction  of  alphabetical  writing  into  Greece.  At  least 
sixteen  letters  of  their  alphabet  claim  him  as  the  author.  But  as  the 
order,  names,  and  form  of  the  characters  greatly  correspond  with  the 
Phoenician,  it  seems  very  probable  that  the  Greek  letters  were  formed 
from  them,  and  that  Cadmus  did  not  invent,  but  copy  them. 


34  LANGUAGE. 

Ethiopic,  or  Abyssinian,  is  derived  from  the  Samaritan, 
or  Phoenician. 

The  Etruscan  was  the  first  alphabet  used  in  Italy,  and 
so  called  from  the  Etrusci,  the  most  ancient  inhabitants. 

Gothic :  the  most  ancient  characters  under  this  name  are 
attributed  to  Bishop  Ulphilas. 

Cadmus,  the  Phoenician,  introduced  the  first  Greek  al- 
phabet into Boaotia,  where  he  settled  B.C.  1500;  though 
Diodorus  says  the  Pelasgian  letters  were  prior  to  the  Cad- 
mean. 

The  Greeks  called  the  Phoenicians  Pelasgu  quasi  Pelagi, 
because  they  traversed  the  ocean  and  carried  on  commerce 
with  other  nations. 

Scaliger  supposes  the  Phoenician  to  have  been  the  ori- 
ginal Hebrew  character,  otherwise  the  Samaritan, — which 
is  generally  supposed  to  be  that  which  was  used  by  the 
Jews  from  the  time  of  Moses  to  the  Captivity. 

The  alphabet  of  the  Sanscrit  is  called  the  devanagari. 

The  Oriental  alphabets  are  the  Hebrew,  ancient  and 
modern ;  Rabbinical ;  Samaritan,  ancient  and  modern ; 
Phoenician ;  Egyptian  hieroglyphic ;  Chinese  characters. 

The  Irish  alphabet  is  the  Phoenician. 


ORIGIN  OF  WRITING-MATERIALS.  35 


III. 


THE  art  of  writing  is  very  ancient.  Its  origin  is 
actually  lost  in  the  distance  of  time.  From  one  point, 
however,  —  this  side  of  the  gulf  of  lost  ages,  in  which 
high  art  perished,  and  with  it  the  key  to  all  its  antedilu- 
vian greatness,  —  we  date  our  history. 

The  Bible  gives  us  the  earliest  notice  on  the  subject  that 
is  anywhere  to  be  found.  The  most  ancient  mode  of 
writing  was  on  cinders,  on  bricks,  and  on  tables  of  stone; 
afterwards  on  plates  of  various  materials,  on  ivory  and 
similar  articles.  One  of  the  earliest  methods  was  to  cut 
out  the  letters  on  a  tablet  of  stone.  Moses,  we  are  told, 
received  the  two  tables  of  the  Covenant  on  Mount  Sinai, 
written  with  the  finger  of  God;  and  before  that,  Moses 
himself  was  not  ignorant  of  the  use  of  letters.*  [Exodus 
xxiv.  4;  xvii.  14.]  A  learned  writer  says:  —  "In  Genesis 
v.  1,  'This  is  the  book  of  the  generations  of  Adam/ 
reference  is  made  to  the  book  of  genealogy;  whence  it 
irresistibly  follows  that  writing  must  have  been  in  use 
among  the  antediluvian  patriarchs;  and,  under  the  view 
that  writing  was  a  divine  revelation,  the  same  almighty 

.  *  And  the  Lord  said  unto  Moses,  Hew  thee  two  tables  of  stone  like 
unto  the  first:  and  I  will  write  upon  these  tables  the  words  that  were  in 
the  first  tables,  which  thou  brakest.  —  Exodus  xxxiv.  1. 

In  the  ark  of  the  covenant,  so  carefully  preserved  by  the  Jews,  was 
Moses  required  to  put  the  two  tables  of  stone  on  which  the  Ten  Com- 
mandments were  written  with  the  finger  of  God.  We  are  expressly  told 
that  the  ark  contained  nothing  besides  these  tables.  Aaron's  rod,  the 
pot  of  manna,  and  the  copy  of  the  law  were  by,  but  not  within  the  ark. 
—1  Kings  viii.  9. 


36  ORIGIN  OF  WRITING-MATERIALS. 

power  that,  according  to  the  preceding  proposition,  in- 
structed Moses,  could  have  equally  vouchsafed  a  similar 
inspiration  to  any  patriarch  from  Adam  to  Noah.  Nor 
does  it  seem  consistent  with  the  merciful  dispensation 
which  preserved  Noah's  family  through  the  grand  cata- 
clysm, and  had  condescended,  according  to  the  biblical 
record,  to  teach  him  those  multitudinous  arts  indispensably 
necessary  to  the  construction  of  a  vessel  destined  to  pass 
uninjured  through  the  tempests  of  the  Deluge,  that  the 
Almighty,  by  withholding  the  art  of  writing,  should  have 
left  the  account  of  antediluvian  events  to  the  vicissitudes  of 
oral  tradition,  or  denied  to  Noah's  family  the  practice  of  this 
art,  which,  it  is  maintained,  was  conceded  first  to  Moses." 

It  is  said  that  "  Moses  was  learned  in  all  the  wisdom  of 
the  Egyptians."  The  five  books  of  Moses  carry  with 
them  internal  evidence,  not  of  one  sole,  connected,  and 
original  composition,  but  of  a  compilation  by  an  inspired 
writer  from  earlier  annals.  The  genealogical  tables  and 
family  records  of  various  tribes  that  are  found  embodied 
in  the  Pentateuch,  bear  the  appearance  of  documents 
copied  from  written  archives.  We  have  the  authority  of 
Genesis  v.  1  for  asserting  the  existence  of  a  book  of  gene- 
alogies in  the  time  of  Noah;  and  a  city  mentioned  by 
Joshua  was  named  in  Hebrew  "  Kirjath  Sefer,"  "  The  City 
of  Letters."  It  is  impossible  to  prove  that  letters  were 
unknown  before  Moses ;  and  •  the  Hebrews  of  his  day 
appear  to  have  had  two  distinct  modes  of  writing  the 
characters  of  which,  in  one  case,  were  " alphabetic"  and  in 
the  other  "symbolic"  The  inscription  on  the  ephod  itself, 
is  said — Exodus  xxviii.  36 — to  have  been  written  in  cha- 
racters "  like  the  engravings  of  a  signet." 

The  materials  and  instruments  with  which  writing 
was  performed  were,  in  comparison  with  our  pen,  ink, 
and  paper,  extremely  rude  and  unwieldy.  One  of  the 
earliest  methods  was  to  cut  out  the  letters  on  a  tablet  of 


ORIGIN  OF  WRITING-MATERIALS.  37 

stone.  Another  was  to  trace  them  on  unbaked  tiles,  or 
bricks,  which  were  afterwards  thoroughly  baked  or  burned 
with  fire.  When  the  writing  was  wanted  to  be  more 
durable,  lead  or  brass  was  employed.  In  the  book  of  Job, 
mention  is  made  of  writing  on  stone.  It  was  on  tablets 
of  stone  that  Moses  received  the  law  written  by  the  finger 
of  God  himself.  Tablets  of  wood  were  frequently  used 
as  being  more  convenient.  Such  was  the  writing-table 
which  Zacharias  used.  [Luke  i.  63.]  Cedar  was  pre- 
ferred as  being  more  incorruptible;  from  this  custom 
arose  the  celebrated  saying  of  the  ancients,  when  they 
meant  to  give  the  highest  eulogium  of  an  excellent  work, 
et  cedro  digna  loGuti, — that  it  was  worthy  to  be  written  on 
cedar.  These  tablets  were  made  of  the  trunks  of  trees. 
The  same  reason  which  led  them  to  prefer  the  cedar  to 
other  trees,  induced  them  to  write  on  wax,  which  is  incor- 
ruptible. Men  used  it  to  write  their  testaments,  in  order 
better  to  preserve  them.  Thus,  Juvenal  says,  cereus  implere 
capaces.  The  leaves  and,  at  other  times,  the  bark  of 
different  trees  were  early  used  for  writing.  From  the 
thin  films  of  bark  peeled  off  from  the  Egyptian  reed 
papyrus  which  grew  along  the  Nile,  a  material  was  formed 
in  latter  times  answering  the  purpose  much  better.  It 
bore  the  name  of  the  reed,  papyrus,  or,  in  our  language, 
paper.  Long  afterwards  its  name  passed  to  a  different 
material,  composed  of  linen  or  cotton,  which  has  taken 
place  of  all  others  in  the  use  of  civilized  countries,  and  is 
called  to  this  day  paper.  Paper  made  of  cotton  was  in 
use  in  1001;  that  of  linen  rags  in  1319.* 


*  Meerman,  well  known  as  a  writer  upon  the  antiquities  of  printing, 
offered  a  reward  for  the  earliest  manuscript  upon  linen  paper ;  and,  in  a 
treatise  upon  the  subject,  fixed  the  date  of  its  invention  between  1270 
and  1300.  But  Mr.  Schwandner,  of  Vienna,  is  said  to  have  found  in 
the  imperial  library  a  small  charter  bearing  the  date  of  1243  on  such 
paper.  But  more  than  one  Arabian  writer  asserts  the  manufacture  of 


38  THE  PEN. 

"The  paper  reeds  by  the  brooks,  by  the  mouth  of  the 
brooks,  ....  shall  wither,  be  driven  away,  and  be  no  more." 
— Isaiah  xix.  7. 

Pliny,  speaking  of  the  papyrus,  says : — 

"Before  we  depart  out  of  Egypt,  we  must  not  forget 
the  plant  papyrus,  but  describe  the  nature  thereof,  con- 
sidering that  all  civilitie  of  life,  the  memoriall,  and  im- 
mortalitie  also  of  men  after  death  consisteth  especially  in 
paper  which  is  made  thereof.  M.  Varro  writeth  that  the 
first  invention  of  making  paper  was  devised  upon  the 
conquest  of  -ZEgypt,  achieved  by  Alexander  the  Great,  at 
what  time  as  he  founded  the  city  of  Alexandria  in  .ZEgypt, 
where  such  paper  was  first  made." — Holland,  Plinie,  b. 
xiii.  c.  21. 

We  have  alluded  to  the  barks  of  trees  being  used.  The 
thin  peel  which  is  found  between  the  second  skin  of  a  tree 
was  called  liber, — from  whence  the  Latin  word,  liber,  a 
book;  and  we  have  derived  the  name  of  library  and  libra- 
rian in  the  European  language,  and  in  the  French  their 
livre  for  book. 

TH E  PEN. 

The  instruments  employed  by  the  ancients  for  making 
the  letters  on  their  tablets  was  a  small,  pointed  piece  of 
iron,  or  some  other  hard  substance,  called  by  the  Romans 
a  style:  hence  a  man's  manner  of  composition  was  figura- 
tively called  his  style  of  writing.  The  use  of  the  word 
still  continues,  though  the  instrument  has  long  since  passed 
away 

Style  derives  its  name  from  stylus,  Latin,  as  also  from  a 
Greek  word,  columna,  an  instrument  with  a  point. 

linen  paper  to  have  been  carried  on  at  Samarcand  early  in  the  eighth 
century,  having  been  brought  thither  from  China;  and,  what  is  more 
conclusive,  Casiri  positively  declares  many  manuscripts  in  the  Escurial 
of  the  eleventh  and  twelfth  centuries  to  be  written  on  this  substance. — 
Bibliotheca  Hispanica  Arabica,  t.  11,  p.  9. 


PENCILS.  39 

Reeds  formed  into  pens  were  used  to  trace  the  letters 
with  ink  of  some  sort  after  the  fashion  that  is  now  com- 
mon; or  else  they  were  painted  with  a  small  brush,  as 
was  probably  the  general  custom  at  first.  Pens  made  of 
quills  were  not  in  use  until  the  fifth  century.  The  oldest 
certain  account  of  writing  with  quills  is  a  passage  of  Isi- 
dore, who  died  in  636,  and  who,  among  the  instruments 
of  writing,  mentions  "reeds  and  feathers."  In  the  same 
century  a  small  poem  was  written  on  a  pen,  which  is  to 
be  found  in  the  works  of  Althelmus.  He  died  in  709. 

"We  annex  the  following  as  giving  a  poetical  original  of 
the  pen : — 

"Love  begg'd  and  pray'd  old  Time  to  stay 

While  he  and  Psyche  toyed  together ; 
Love  held  his  wings :  Time  tore  away, 

But  in  the  scuffle  dropp'd  a  feather. 
Love  seized  the  prize,  and  with  his  dart 

Adroitly  work'd  to  trim  and  shape  it, 
0  Psyche,  though  'tis  pain  to  part, 

This  charm  shall  make  us  half  escape  it. 
Time  need  not  fear  to  fly  too  slow 

When  he  this  useful  loss  discovers, 
A  pen's  the  only  plume  I  know 

That  wings  her  pace  for  absent  lovers." 

PENCILS. 

The  ancients  drew  their  lines  with  leaden  styles ;  after- 
wards a  mixture  of  tin  and  lead  fused  together  was  used. 
The  mineral  known  under  the  name  of  plumbago  is  sup- 
posed to  have  been  first  employed  for  the  purpose  of 
drawing  in  the  fifteenth  century.  In  1565,  an  old  author 
notes  that  people  had  pencils  for  writing  which  consisted 
of  a  wooden  handle,  in  which  was  a  piece  of  lead;  and  a 
drawing  is  given  of  the  pencil  as  an  object  of  curiosity. 
They  continued  to  be  uncommon  for  upwards  of  a  century, 
when  we  hear  them  spoken  of  being  enclosed  in  pine  or 
cedar. 


40  THE  SCRIBE. 

THE  SCRIBE. 

"Scribe  was  a  name  which,  among  the  Jews,  was  applied  to  two  sorts  of 
officers.  1.  To  a  civil:  and  so  it  signifies  a  notary,  or,  in  a  large  sense,  any 
one  employed  to  draw  up  deeds  and  writings.  2.  This  name  signifies  a 
church  officer,  one  skillful  and  conversant  in  the  law  to  interpret  and  explain 
it." — Sortth.  vol.  iv.  ser.  1. 

The  word  scribe  is  derived  from  the  Latin,  scrib-ere, 
which  has  the  same  meaning  as  "schrabben"  (Dutch),  to 
scrape  or  draw  a  style,  or  pen,  over  the  surface  of  paper 
or  parchment. 

The  name,  however,  was  given  to  such  as  excelled  in 
the  use  of  the  pen,  and  who  were  likewise  distinguished 
in  other  branches  of  knowledge.  It  came  in  time  to  mean 
simply  a  learned  man;  and,  as  the  chief  part  of  learning 
among  the  Jews  was  concerned  with  the  sacred  books  of 
Scripture,  the  word  signified  especially  one  "who  was 
skilled  in  the  law  of  God" — one  whose  business  it  was,  not 
merely  to  provide  correct  copies  of  its  volume,  but  also  to 
explain  its  meaning.  Thus,  Ezra  is  called  "a  ready  scribe 
of  the  law  of  Moses." — Ezra  vii.  6. 

Before  the  introduction  of  types,  books  were  written 
generally  upon  skins,  linen,  cotton-cloth,  or  papyrus: 
parchment  in  later  times  was  most  esteemed.  The  busi- 
ness of  the  scribes  was  to  make  duplicate  copies  of  these 
books,  which,  when  completed,  the  leaves  were  pinned 
together  so  as  to  make  a  single  long  sheet.  This  was  then 
rolled  round  a  stick:  hence  books  of  every  description 
or  size  were  called  "rolls;"  our  word  volume  means  just 
the  same  thing  in  its  original  signification. 

"  Volumed  in  rolling  masses." 

In  the  time  of  our  Saviour  the  scribes  formed  quite  a 
considerable  class  in  society.  Many  of  them  belonged  to 
the  sanhedrim,  or  chief  council,  and  are  therefore  fre- 
quently mentioned  in  the  New  Testament  with  the  elders 
and  chief  priests. — See  Luke  v.  17,  x.  25;  Matthew  xxiii. 
2;  Matthew  ii.  4,  also  xiii.  52;  and  Mark  xii.  35. 


INK— INK-HORNS.  41 

ANCIENT  INK. 

The  ink  used  by  the  ancients  appears  to  have  been  what 
is  termed  in  art  a  "  body  color,"  or  a  more  solid  medium 
than  is  at  present  used,  and  similar  to  what  is  used  by  the 
modern  Chinese. 

Subsequently,  lamp-black,  or  the  black  taken  from 
burnt  ivory,  and  soot  from  furnaces  and  baths,  according 
to  Pliny  and  others,  formed  the  basis  of  the  ink  used  by 
old  writers. 

It  has  also  been  conjectured  that  the  black  liquor  of  the 
scuttle-fish  was  frequently  employed.*  Of  whatever  ingre- 
dients it  was  made,  it  is  certain,  from  chemical  analysis, 
from  the  blackness  and  solidity  in  the  most  ancient  manu- 
scripts, and  from  inkstands  found  at  Herculaneum,  in 
which  the  ink  appears  like  thick  oil,  that  the  ink  then 
made  was  much  more  opaque,  as  well  as  encaustic,  than 
what  is  used  at  present.  Inks  red,  purple,  and  blue,  and 
also  gold  and  silver  inks  were  much  used;  the  red  was 
made  from  vermilion,  cinnabar,  and  carmine;  the  purple 
from  the  murex,  one  sort  of  which,  named  the  purple 
encaustic,  was  set  apart  for  the  sole  use  of  the  emperors. 
Golden  ink  was  used  by  the  Greeks  much  more  than  by 
the  Romans.  The  manufacture  of  both  gold  and  silver 
ink  was  an  extensive  and  lucrative  business  in  the  Middle 
Ages.  Another  distinct  business  was  that  of  inscribing 
the  titles,  capitals,  as  well  as  emphatic  words,  in  colored 
and  gold  and  silver  inks. 

INK-HORNS. 

The  ink-horns  were  sometimes  made  of  lead,  sometimes 
of  silver,  and  were  generally  polygonal  in  their  form. 

*  The  scuttle-fish  emits  a  liquid  strongly  resembling  ink. 

4* 


42  HIEROGLYPHICAL  WRITING. 

HIEROGLYPHICAL  WRITING. 

The  remote  antiquity  of  hieroglyphical  writing  may  be 
inferred  from  the  fact  that  it  must  have  existed  before  the 
use  of  the  solar  month  in  Egypt, — "  which,"  says  Gliddon, 
"  astronomical  observations  on  Egyptian  records  prove  to 
have  been  in  use  at  an  epoch  close  up  to  the  Septuagint 
era  of  the  Flood."  From  Egyptian  annals  we  may  .glean 
some  faint  confirmation  of  the  view  that  they  either  pos- 
sessed the  primeval  alphabet,  or  else  they  rediscovered  its 
equivalent  from  the  mystic  functions  and  attributes  of  the 
"  two  Thoths," — the  first  and  second  Hermes,  both  Egyp- 
tian mythological  personages,  deified  as  attributes  of  the 
Godhead. 

To  "  Thoth,"  Mercury,  or  the  first  Hermes,  the  Egyp- 
tians ascribed  the  invention  of  letters. 

The  first  attempts  of  "  picture-writing"  were  to  imitate 
certain  images,  each  representing  a  word  or  letter.  Draw- 
ing, therefore,  was  the  most  natural  medium;  and  the 
study  of  representing  things  pictorially  became  popular 
and  the  only  mode  of  communication. 

The  true  origin  of  alphabetical  writing  has  never 
been  traced ;  but  that  of  the  Egyptians  has  been  proved 
by  the  Comte  de  Caylus  to  be  formed,  as  stated  above, 
of  hieroglyphical  marks,  adopted  with  no  great  variations.* 
"We  find,"  says  Warburton,  "no  appearance  of  alpha- 
betical writing  or  characters  on  their  public  monuments." 

This,  however  true  at  the  time  he  wrote,  cannot  now  be 
asserted ;  since  the  celebrated  Rosetta  stone,  in  the  British 
Museum,  is  engraved  with  three  distinct  sets  of  characters, 
— Greek,  Egyptian,  and  a  third  resembling  what  are  called 
hieroglyphics.  The  only  doubt  that  can  be  entertained 
is,  whether  these  are  strictly  hieroglyphics, — that  is,  re- 
presentations of  things, — or  rather  an  alphabetical  cha- 
racter peculiar  to  the  priesthood,  and  called  hierograin- 


HIEROGLYPHWAL  WRITING.  43 

tnatics.  1.  The  existence  of  this  sacred  alphabet  is 
attested  by  Herodotus,  Diodorus,  and  several  other 
writers.  2.  It  went  occasionally  under  the  name  of  hie- 
roglyphic, as  appears  not  only  by  the  passage  quoted 
above  from  Manetho,  if  we  do  not  alter  the  text,  but 
from  one  in  Porphyry,  which  may  be  found  in  Warbur- 
fcon.  3.  It  was,  however,  considered  as  perfectly  distinct 
from  the  genuine  hieroglyphic,  w.hich  was  always  under- 
stood to  denote  things,  either  by  mere  picture-writing, 
or,  more  commonly,  by  very  refined  allegory.  4.  Works 
of  a  popular  and  civil  nature  were  written  in  this  cha- 
racter, as  we  learn  from  Clement  of  Alexandria ;  whereas 
the  genuine  hieroglyphic  was  exceedingly  secret  and  mys- 
terious, and  the  knowledge  of  it  confined  to  the  priest- 
hood. 5.  The  inscription  upon  the  Rosetta  stone  is  said, 
in  the  terms  of  the  decree  contained  in  it,  to  be  written  in 
the  sacred,  national,  and  Greek  characters.  6.  It  could 
not  be  a  mysterious  character,  such  as  the  genuine  hiero- 
glyphic seems  to  have  been,  because  it  was  exposed  to 
public  view  with  a  double  translation.  7.  It  occupies  a 
considerable  space  upon  the  stone,  although  an  indefinite 
part  of  it  is -broken  off;  although  the  real  hieroglyphic, 
as  is  natural  to  emblematic  writing,  appears  to  have 
been  exceedingly  compendious.  8.  The  characters  do  not 
appear  to  be  very  numerous,  as  they  recur  in  various 
combinations  of  three,  four,  or  more,  as  might  be  expected 
from  the  letters  of  an  alphabet.  But  this  argument  we  do 
not  strongly  press,  because  our  examination  has  not  been 
very  long.  It  appears  to  hold  out  a  decisive  test,  and  we 
offer  it  as  such  to  the  ingenuity  of  antiquaries. 

Upon  these  grounds  we  think  that  the  characters  upon 
the  Rosetta  stone,  which  are  commonly  denominated  hie- 
roglyphics, are  in  fact  the  original  alphabetic  characters 
of  the  Egyptians,  from  which  the  others  have  probably 
been  derived  by  a  gradual  corruption  through  haste  in 


44  EIEROGLYPHICAL  WRITING. 

writing.  They  are,  however,  in  one  sense,  hieroglyphics, 
being  tolerably  accurate  delineations  of  men,  animals,  and 
instruments.  If  we  are  right  in  our  conjectures,  the 
value  of  the  Rosetta  stone  is  incomparably  greater  than 
has  been  imagined.  We  have  no  need  of  hieroglyphics: 
Roman  and  Egyptian  monuments  are  full  of  them.  But 
a  primitive  alphabet,  probably  the  earliest  ever  formed  in 
the  world,  and  illustrating  an  important  link  in  the 
history  of  writing, — the  adaptation  of  signs  to  words, — 
is  certainly  a  discovery  very  interesting  to  any  philoso- 
phical mind.  Through  what  steps  the  analysis  of  arti- 
culate sound  into  its  constituent  parts  was  completed — if 
we  can  say  that  it  ever  has  been  completed — so  as  to  esta- 
blish distinct  marks  for  each  of  them,  and  whether  these 
marks  were  taken  at  random,  or  from  some  supposed  ana- 
logy between  the  simple  sounds  they  were  brought  to  re- 
present and  their  primary  hieroglyphical  meaning,  are  ques- 
tions which  stand  in  need  of  solution.* 

The  Rosetta  stone  is  the  only  one  yet  discovered,  being 
no  doubt  the  pioneer  to  many  more  that  may  yet  be  un- 
earthed. The  importance  of  this  stone — its  inscription 
indicating  the  probability  of  its  supplying  a  key  to  the 
deciphering  of  the  long-lost  meanings  of  Egyptian  hiero- 
glyphics— "was  immediately,"  says  Gliddon,  in  his  Lec- 
tures on  Ancient  Egypt, "  perceived  by  the  learned,  who  in 
vain  endeavored  to  trace  the  analogy  between  symbolical 
and  alphabetical  writing.  Its  arrival  in  London  excited 
the  liveliest  interest  in  all  those  who  had  devoted  them- 
selves to  Egyptian  archaeology ;  and  the  attention  of  the 

*  The  Rosetta  stone,  or  rather  a  fragment  of  it,  was  discovered  by  a 
French  officer  of  engineers,  Mons.  Bouchard,  in  August,  1799,  when 
digging  the  foundations  of  Fort  St.  Julien,  erected  on  the  western 
bank  of  the  Nile,  between  Rosetta  and  the  sea,  not  far  from  the  mouth 
of  the  river.  It  was  deposited  in  the  British  Museum  in  1802. 


HIEROGLYPHICAL  WRITING.  45 

greatest  scholars  of  the  age  was  directed  tojts  critical  in- 
vestigation. (See  Gliddon's  work  on  Ancient  Egypt.) 

Any  one  who  will  examine  the  hieroglyphical  alphabet 
closely  will  discover  a  most  extraordinary  coincidence- in 
that  of  the  symbolical  writing  of  our  North  American 
Indians,  specimens  of  which  are  in  the  museum  at  Wash- 
ington City.  A  war  despatch,  giving  an  account  of  one 
of  their  expeditions,  has  the  same  emblematical  figures  as 
has  that  of  the  Egyptians  as  used  1550  B.C. 

There  are  also  among  other  tribes  many  remarkable 
similarities,  and  analogous  with  Egyptian  symbolical 
writings,  which  strengthen  the  supposition  that  the  Indians 
of  North  America  are  one  of  the  lost  tribes  of  Israel.  Nor 
is  it  alone  the  mere  words  which  these  signs  and  figures 
convey,  but  certain  traits  of  character  in  their  habits  and 
customs  as  compared  with  the  ancients. — (See  Isaiah  xi. 
11-15.) 

The  Indians  have  a  tradition  among  them  to  this  effect : 
"that  nine  parts  of  their  nation  out  of  ten  passed  over  a 
great  river."  They  also  have  traditions  of  the  "  Flood," 
"  a  good  book,"  "  Tower  of  Babel,"  "  dispersion  of  the 
Jews,"  and  the  "  confounding  of  language."  It  is  related 
by  Father  Charlevoix,  the  French  historian,  that  the 
Hurons  and  Iroquois  in  their  early  day  had  a  tradition 
among  them  that  the  first  woman  came  from  heaven  and 
had  twins,  and  that  the  elder  killed  the  younger.  In 
1641  an  old  Indian  woman  stated  that  this  tradition 
among  her  tribe  was  that  the  Great  Spirit  had  killed 
his  brother.  This  is  evidently  a  confusion  of  the  story 
of  Cain  and  Abel.  Still,  the  tradition  is  remarkable 
from  the  fact  that  this,  as  well  as  the  others  alluded  to, 
existed  long  before  the  discovery  of  this  continent. 

The  Ottawas  say  that  there  are  two  great  beings 
who  rule  and  govern  the  universe,  and  who  are  at  war 
with  each  other.  The  one  they  call  "Mameto"  the  other 


46  HIEROGLYPHICAL  WRITING. 

"  Matchernaneto."  There  is  a  wonderful,  or  rather,  we 
should  say,  a  remarkable,  resemblance  between  the  lan- 
guage of  the  Creek  Indians  with  that  of  the  ancient 
Hebrew ;  for  instance :  "  Y  He  Howa"  means  Jehovah  ; 
"Halleluwah,"  hallelujah;  "Abba,"  in  Creek,  has  the 
same  meaning  as  "  Abba"  in  Hebrew ;  "  Kesh,"  kesh ; 
"Abe,"  Abel;  "Kenaaj,"  Canaan;  "  Awah,"  Eve,  or 
Eweh ;  "  Korah,"  Cora ;  "  Jennois,"  Jannon,  both  literally 
meaning,  "  He  shall  be  called  a  son."  There  is  more  in 
these  similarities  than  can  be  attributed  to  mere  chance. 

Any  one  at  all  familiar  with  hieroglyphical  writing 
need  only  to  examine  the  Indian  characters  upon  buffalo 
and  other  skins  received  in  trade  from  the  Indians  to 
trace,  as  it  were,  a  distinct  line  from  that  most  ancient 
school  of  designing  figures  to  suit  expression  and  lan- 
guage, down  to  these  tribes,  who  may  well  be  called  the 
descendants  of  the  "  remnant  of"  God's  people,  who  were 
scattered  over  the  lands  of  Egypt  and  the  "  islands  of  the 
sea,"  in  the  time  of  Isaiah. 

In  the  Ambrosian  Library  at  Milan  there  are  to  be 
seen  Mexican  hieroglyphics,  painted  in  Mexico  upon 
buck-leather,  and  were  presented  to  the  Emperor  Charles 
V.  by  Ferdinand  Cortez.  These  hieroglyphics  are  now 
as  little  understood  as  are  those  of  Egypt,  although  both  are 
now  gradually  yielding  to  the  mind's  influence  in  their 
development.  Impressions  of  these  were  taken  on  copper 
from  fac-similes  in  the  possession  of  Humboldt. 

Perhaps  the  first  real  step  made  into  the  hieroglyphical 
arcana  may  be  dated  from  1797,  when  the  learned  Dane, 
George  Zoega,  published  at  Rome  his  folio  "  De  Origine 
et  lisa  Obeliscorum,"  explanatory  of  the  Egyptian 
Obelisks.— (G.  R.  Gliddon.) 


THE  CONFUSION  OF  TONGUES.  47 

THE  CONFUSION  OF  TONGUES— THE  CONFOUNDING 
OF  LANGUAGES. 

One  of  the  most  remarkable  passages  in  Holy  Writ 
is  that  which  speaks  of  the  confounding  of  language. 
"  And  the  Lord  said,  Behold,  the  people  is  one,  and  they 
have  all  one  language.  Let  us  go  down,  and  there  con- 
found their  language,  that  they  may  not  understand  one 
"'another's  speech.  So  the  Lord  scattered  them  abroad  from 
thence  upon  the  face  of  the  earth,  and  they  left  off  to  build 
the  city.7' 

The  name  of  it  was  called  "  Babel"  (confusion),  from  the 
Hebrew.  The  consequence  of  this  eternal  fiat,  which  went 
forth  like  a  flash  of  lightning,  was,  that  the  people  became 
as  strangers  to  each  other,  and  spoke  a  language  wild  and 
chaotic.  Gesticulation  took  the  place  of  words ;  and  hence 
their  punishment  for  daring  to  contest  power  with  their 
Creator. 

The  building  of  the  Tower  of  Babel  was  an  act  of 
Nimrod's,  who  "esteemed  it  a  piece  of  cowardice  to  sub- 
mit to  God ;"  and  he  urged  the  people  on  to  build  this 
tower,  saying,  He  would  be  revenged  on  God  if  he  should 
ever  have  a  mind  to  drown  the  world  again ;  for  that  he 
would  build  it  so  high  the  waters  could  not  reach  it.  The 
place  wherein  they  built  the  tower  is  now  called  Babylon. 
From  this  date  may  be  ascribed  the  history  of  languages. 
It  is  supposed,  however,  that  Noah  and  other  pious  per- 
sons, chiefly  the  descendants  of  Shem  in  the  line  of  Eber, 
not  being  concerned  in  this  project,  retained  the  original 
language.  Now,  if  this  was,  as  it  is  highly  probable,  the 
Hebrew,  we  may  conclude  it  was  thus  called  from  Eber, 
to  whose  descendants  it  was  peculiar;  and  perhaps  this  is 
the  most  satisfactory  reason  that  can  be  assigned  why 
Abraham  is  called  the  Hebrew  and  his  posterity  Hebrews. 

It  was   not,  however,  the   mere   confusion  of  tongues 


48  THE  CONFUSION  OF  TONGUES. 

which  rendered  the  people  incapable  of  conversing  one 
with  another,  but  it  was  the  extraordinary  miracle  con- 
nected with  it  of  the  mind's  confusion.  Incapable,  there- 
fore, of  bringing  their  original  language  back  to  its  former 
use,  they  invented  new  languages,  new  phrases;  and  thus 
in  time  every  great  nation  had  its  own  language.  The 
dividing  of  languages  was  therefore  the  dividing  of 
nations.  The  precise  number  of  original  languages  then 
heard  for  the  first  time  cannot  be  determined.  The 
Hebrew,  Greek,  Latin,  Teutonic,  Sclavonian,  Tartarian, 
and  Chinese  languages  are  considered  to  be  original :  the 
rest  are  only  dialects  from  them. 

*  History  is  silent  on  the  early  data  of  the  building  of  the 
Tower  of  Babel;  nor  is  one  of  its  builders'  names  men- 
tioned, except  the  somewhat  obscure  intimation  respecting 
Nimrod.* 

Babylon  subsequently  became  the  head-quarters  of 
idolatry,  and  the  type  of  the  "mystical  Babylon,"  the 
mother  of  harlots  and  abominations  of  the  earth. 

The  glory  of  Babylon  departed.  Its  walls  of  sixty  miles 
in  circumference,  eighty-seven  feet  thick  and  three  hun- 
dred and  fifty  feet  high,  built  of  brick  and  containing 
twenty-five  gates  of  solid  brass  and  two  hundred  and  fifty 
towers,  are  now  the  wonder  of  men  who  gaze  upon  the 
debris  of  "splendor  in  ruins." 

The  ruins  of  "Birs  Nimrod,"  on  an  elevated  mount, 
are  supposed  to  be  the  Tower  of  Babel  of  the  sacred  Scrip- 
tures, and  the  temple  of  Belus,  so  minutely  described  by 
Herodotus.  The  base  of  this  tower  measures  two  thousand 
and  eighty-two  feet  in  circumference.  Babylon  was  in  its 
glory  in  the  time  of  Nebuchadnezzar.  It  was  besieged 
and  taken  by  Cyrus  B.  c.  538,  and  afterwards  by  Alex- 
ander the  Great. 

*  Josephus,  Antiquities  of  the  Jews,  book  1,  chap.  iv. 


MESSENGERS,  CARRIERS,  ETC.  49 


IV. 


"The  eye  is  a  good  messenger, 
Which  can  to  the  heart  in  such  manner 
Tidings  send  as  can  ease  it  of  its  pain." 

CHAUCER. 

THERE  are  so  many  beautiful  passages  both  in  sacred 
and  profane  history  alluding  to  messengers,  in  connection 
with  our  subject,  that  there  is  no  doubt  but  as  civilization 
progressed  the  word  and  its  meaning  laid  the  foundation 
for  the  many  improvements  which  are  to  be  found  in  our 
present  postal  system,  —  a  system  which  now  connects  all 
nations  together  by  a  letter-line  mode  of  communication. 

There  is  a  beautiful  passage  in  Holy  Writ  from  which, 
figuratively,  we  date  the  origin  of  first  carrier  or  mes- 
senger: it  is  that  of  the  dove  that  went  forth  from  the 
ark.  "And  the  dove  came  in  to  him  in  the  evening,  and, 
lo,  in  her  mouth  was  an  olive  leaf  plucked  oif  :  so  Noah 
knew  that  the  waters  were  abated  from  off  the  earth." 

THE  RETURN  OF  THE  DOVE. 

"There  was  hope  in  the  ark  at  the  dawning  of  day, 
When  o'er  the  wide  waters  the  dove  flew  away; 
But  when  ere  the  night  she  came  wearily  back 
With  the  leaf  she  had  pluck'd  on  her  desolate  track, 
The  children  of  Noah  knelt  down  and  adored, 
And  utter'd  in  anthems  their  praise  to  the  Lord. 
Oh,  bird  of  glad  tidings!   oh,  joy  in  our  pain! 
Beautiful  Dove,  thou  art  welcome  again." 

MAC  KAY. 

The  name  of  messenger  is  derived  from  the  Latin  word 
missaticum,  and  this  from  missus,  one  sent.  The  old 

5 


50  THE  CARRIER-PIGEON. 

French   mes  was   applied   both  to  the  message  and   the 
messager. 

"But  eare  he  thus  had  say'd, 
With  flying  speede  and  seeming  great  pretence, 
Came  running  in,  much  like  a  man  dismay'd, 
A  messenger  with  letters,  which  his  message  say'd." 

SPENSER. 

Gower,  the  poet  of  the  fourteenth  century,  says  :— 

"  The  raynbow  is  hir  messager  e" 

Angels  are  called  "winged  messengers." 

"The  angels  are  still  dispatched  by  God  upon  all  his 
great  messages  to  the  world,  and,  therefore,  their  very 
name  in  Greek  signifies  a  messenger" — South,  vol.  viii. 
ser.  3. 

Milton  also  thus  beautifully  alludes  to  the  angel  mes- 
sengers : — 

"For  will  deign 

To  visit  the  dwellings  of  just  men 
Delighted,  and  with  frequent  intercourse 
Thither  will  send  her  winged  messengers 
On  errands  of  supernal  grace. 

Carriers,  in  connection  with  letters,  are  modern  append- 
ages to  the  post-office,  and  now  form  one  of  its  most  im- 
portant branches.  They  are  indeed  welcome  messengers. 

"  The  very  carrier  that  comes  from  him  to  her  is  a  most 
welcome  guest;  and  if  he  bring  a  letter  she  will  read  it 
twenty  times  over." — Burton. 

THE  CARRIER-PIGEON. 

The  first  mention  we  find  made  of  the  employment  of 
pigeons  as  letter-carriers  is  by  Ovid,  in  his  "Metamor- 
phoses," who  tells  us  that  Taurosthenes,  by  a  pigeon  stained 
with  purple,  gave  notice  of  his  having  been  victor  at  the 
Olympic  Games  on  the  very  same  day  to  his  father  at 
JEgina. 


THE  CARRIER-PIGEON.  51 

Goldsmith,  in  his  "Animated  Nature/'  says: — "It  is 
from  their  attachment  to  their  native  place,  and  particu- 
larly where  they  have  brought  up  their  young,  that  these 
birds  (pigeons)  are  employed  in  several  countries  as  the 
most  expeditious  carriers." 

When  the  city  of  Ptolemais,  in  Syria,  was  invested  by 
the  French  and  Venetians,  and  it  was  ready  to  fall  into 
their  hands,  they  observed  a  pigeon  flying  over  them,  and 
immediately  conjectured  that  it  was  charged  with  letters 
to  the  garrison.  On  this  the  whole  army  raising  a  loud 
shout,  so  confounded  the  poor  aerial  post  that  it  fell  to  the 
ground ;  and,  on  being  seized,  a  letter  was  found  under  its 
wings  from  its  Sultan,  in  which  he  assured  the  garrison 
that  "he  would  be  with  them  in  three  days  with  an  army 
sufficient  to  raise  the  siege."  For  this  letter  the  besiegers 
substituted  another  to  this  purpose:  "that  the  garrison 
must  see  to  their  own  safety ;  for  the  Sultan  had  such  other 
aifairs  pressing  him  it  was  impossible  for  him  to  come  to 
their  succor;"  and  with  this  false  intelligence  they  let  the 
pigeon  flee  on  his  course.  The  garrison,  deprived  by  this 
decree  of  all  hopes  of  relief,  immediately  surrendered.  The 
Sultan  appeared  on  the  third  day,  as  promised,  with  a 
powerful  army,  and  was  not  a  little  mortified  to  find  the 
city  already  in  the  hands  of  the  Christians. 

In  the  East  the  employment  of  pigeons  in  the  convey- 
ance of  letters  is  still  very  common,  particularly  in  Syria, 
Arabia,  and  Egypt.  Every  bashaw  has  generally  a  basket- 
ful of  them  sent  him  from  the  grand  seraglio,  where  they 
are  bred,  and,  in  case  of  any  insurrection  or  other  emergency, 
he  is  enabled,  by  letting  loose  two  or  more  of  these  extra- 
ordinary messengers,  to  convey  intelligence  to  the  govern- 
ment long  before  it  could  be  possibly  obtained  by  other 
means. 

The  diligence  and  speed  with  which  these  feathered 
messengers  wing  their  course  is  extraordinary.  From  the 


52  THE  CARRIER-PIGEON. 

instant  of  their  liberation  their  flight  is  directed  through 
the  clouds  at  an  immense  height  to  the  place  of  their  des- 
tination. They  are  believed  to  dart  onward  in  a  straight 
line,  and  never  descend  except  when  at  a  loss  for  breath; 
and  then  they  are  to  be  seen  commonly  at  dawn  of  day 
lying  on  their  backs  on  the  ground,  with  their  bills  open, 
sucking  with  hasty  avidity  the  dew  of  the  morning.  Of 
their  speed  the  instances  related  are  almost  incredible. 

The  Consul  of  Alexandria  daily  sends  despatches  by 
these  means  to  Aleppo  in  five  hours,  though  couriers 
occupy  the  whole  day,  and  proceed  with  the  utmost  expe- 
dition from  one  town  to  the  other. 

Some  years  ago  a  gentleman  sent  a  carrier-pigeon  from 
London,  by  the  stage-coach,  to  his  friend  in  St.  Edmunds- 
bury,  together  with  a  note  desiring  that  the  pigeon,  two 
days  after  their  arrival  there,  might  be  thrown  up  precisely 
when  the  town-clock  struck  nine  in  the  morning.  This 
was  done  accordingly,  and  the  pigeon  arrived  in  London 
and  flew  to  the  Bull  Inn,  Bishopsgate  Street,  into  the 
loft,  and  was  there  shown  at  half  an  hour  past  eleven 
o'clock,  having  flown  seventy-two  miles  in  two  hours  and 
a  half. 

Carrier  pigeons  were  again  employed,  but  with  better 
success,  at  the  siege  of  Leyden,  in  1675.  The  garrison 
were,  by  means  of  the  information  thus  conveyed  to  them, 
induced  to  stand  out  till  the  enemy,  despairing  of  reducing 
the  place,  withdrew.  On  the  siege  being  raised,  the  Prince 
of  Orange  ordered  that  the  .pigeons  which  had  rendered 
such  essential  service  should  be  maintained  at  the  public 
expense,  and  at  their  death  they  should  be  embalmed  and 
preserved  in  the  town-house  as  a  perpetual  token  of  grati- 
tude. 

.At  Antwerp,  in  1819,  one  of  the  thirty-two  pigeons 
belonging  to  that  city,  which  had  been  conveyed  to  Lon- 
don and  there  let  loose,  made  the  transit  back — being  a 


LETTERS.  53 

distance  in  a  direct  line  of  one  hundred  and  eighty  miles 
— in  six  hours. 

It  is  through  the  attachment  of  the  animals  to  the  place 
of  their  birth,  and  particularly  to  the  spot  where  they 
had  brought  up  their  young,  that  they  are  thus  rendered 
useful  to  mankind. 

When  a  young  one  flies  very  hard  at  home,  and  is  come 
to  its  full  strength,  it  is  carried  in  a  basket  or  otherwise 
about  half  a  mile  from  home  and  there  turned  out;  after 
this  it  is  carried  a  mile,  two,  four,  eight,  ten,  twenty,  &c., 
till  at  length  it  will  return  from  the  furthermost  parts  of 
the  country. 

LETTERS. 

The  word  letter  is  derived  from  the  Latin  "litera"  of 
which  Yossius  has  not  decided  its  etymology, — perhaps, 
from  litum,  past  participle  of  linere,  to  smear,  as  one  of 
the  oldest  modes  of  writing  was  by  graving  the  characters 
upon  tablets  smeared  over  or  covered  with  wax.  From 
this  word  comes  that  of  letters;  and,  as  they  are  more  im- 
mediately connected  with  our  subject,  we  incline  to  the 
opinion  of  Pliny  that  the  word  linere,  to  smear,  is  by  far 
the  most  truthful  definition.  In  this  respect — that  of 
"  smearing" — it  has  lost  nothing  of  its  original  character, 
if  we  were  to  judge  from  the  appearance  of  many  letters 
daily  passing  through  the  post-office. 

"Smeared  o'er  with  wax"  would  not  cause  any  great 
surprise  to  a  modern  post-office  clerk  if  a  letter  presented 
itself  with  this  only  on  it ;  but  when  in  addition  he  could 
scarcely  read  the  name  through  the  mists  of  blotted  ink  and 
bad  spelling,  we  venture  to  say  he  would  endorse  Pliny's 
opinion,  above  that  of  all  others,  without  the  least  hesita- 
tion. 

An  Oriental  scholar,  speaking  upon  the  subject  of  writing 
as  connected  with  the  ancients,  makes  use  of  this  language : 
— "  The  origin  of  the  art  of  writing  loses  itself  among  the 

5* 


54  THE  FIRST  LETTER-WRITERS. 

nebulous  periods  of  man's  primeval  history.  With  the 
original  ethnographic  varieties  of  the  human  species,  the 
primitive  distribution  of  mankind,  the  patriarchal  foun- 
tains of  a  once-pure  religion,  and  the  earliest  sources  of 
the  diversity  of  language,  must  be  associated  the  first  deve- 
lopments of  this  art  which,  from  the  remotest  periods,  has 
enabled  man  to  record  his  history,  and  to  overcome  space 
and  time  in  the  transmission  of  his  thoughts." 

Symbolical  or  hieroglyphic  writing  is  also  very  ancient. 
It  was  the  ancient  style  of  writing  among  the  Egyptians. 
They  were  also  termed  "sacred  sculptured  characters," 
which  was  the  original  or,  rather,  monumental  method. 
The  hieratic  or  sacerdotal  was  used  by  the  scribes  and 
priests  in  literary  pursuits  prior  to  1500  B.C. 

There  is  a  beautiful  conceit  of  Lord  Bacon's, — "  lAterce 
Vocales"  (vocal  letters),  the  designation  given  by  that  phi- 
losopher to  the  popular  lawyers  of  the  House  of  Commons 
in  the  reign  of  James  I.,  meaning  those  lawyers  who  were 
bold  enough  to  speak  their  minds  and  to  stand  up  for  the 
rights  of  their  constituents. 

Words,  however,  will  pass  away  and  be  forgotten ;  but 
that  which  is  committed  to  writing  will  remain  as  evidence ; 
for  then  you  have  them  in  "  black  and  white." 
"Litera  scripta  manet." 

THE  FIRST  LETTER-WRITERS. 

Jezebel,  it  seems,  was  the  first — or,  at  least,  we  believe 
the  first — that  is  mentioned  in  the  Bible  as  a  letter-writer : 
"  So  she  wrote  letters  in  Ahab's  name,  and  sealed  them 
with  his  seal,  and  sent  the  letters  unto  tlte  elders  and  to 
the  nobles  that  were  in  his  city,  dwelling  with  Naboth."- 
1  Kings  xxi.  8. 

For  fear  a  wrong  construction  should  be  put  upon  this 
act  of  Jezebel,  and  the  cause  of  letters  affected  thereby,  it 
may  be  well  to  state  that  she  was  allowed  to  do  so  by  him, 


SOLOMON  TO  KING  HIRAM.  55 

and  that  his  name  and  seal  were  to  be  used  as  she  pleased. 
She,  however,  used  both  for  a  bad  purpose:  hence  the 
name  of  Jezebel  is  synonymous  with  deceit  and  treachery. 

Letter-writing  is  also  alluded  to  in  Nehemiah  ii.  7 : 
"  Moreover  I  said  unto  the  king,  If  it  please  the  king,  let 
letters  be  given  me  to  the  governors  beyond  the  river,  that 
they  may  convey  me  over  till  I  come  into  Judah."  Also, 
in  Esther  i.  22 :  "  For  he  sent  letters  into  all  the  king's 
provinces,  into  every  province  according  to  the  writing 
thereof,  and  to  every  people  after  their  language,  that  every 
man  should  bear  rule  in  his  own  house ;  and  that  it  should 
be  published  according  to  the  language  of  every  people." 

Hiram,  King  of  Tyre,  when  he  heard  that  Solomon 
succeeded  to  his  father's  kingdom,  was  very  glad  of  it;  for 
he  was  a  friend  of  David's.  So  he  sent  ambassadors  to 
him,  and  saluted  him,  and  congratulated  him  on  the  pre- 
sent happy  state  of  his  affairs.  Upon  which,  Solomon 
sent  an  epistle,  the  contents  of  which  here  follow : — 

SOLOMON  TO  KING  HIRAM. 

"  Know  thou  that  my  father  would  have  built  a  temple 
"to  God,  but  was  hindered  by  wars  and  ^continual  expedi- 
"  tions ;  for  he  did  not  leave  off  to  overthrow  his  enemies 
"till  he  made  them  all  subject  to  tribute.  But  I  give 
"  thanks  to  God  for  the  peace  I  at  present  enjoy,  and  on 
"  that  account  I  am  at  leisure  and  design  to  build  a  house 
"  to  God ;  for  God  foretold  to  my  father  that  such  a  house 
"  should  be  built  by  me.  Wherefore  I  desire  thee  to  send 
"  some  of  thy  subjects  with  mine  to  Mount  Lebanon,  to 
"  cut  down  timber ;  for  the  Sidonians  are  more  skillful  than 
"  our  people  in  cutting  of  wood.  As  for  wages  to  the 
"  hewers  of  wood,  I  will  pay  whatsoever  thou  shalt  deter- 
"  mine." 

When  Hiram  had  read  this  epistle  he  was  pleased  with 
it,  and  wrote  back  this  answer : — 


56  HIRAM  TO  KING  SOLOMON. 

HIRAM  TO  KING  SOLOMON. 

"  It  is  fit  to  bless  God  that  he  hath  committed  thy  father's 
"  government  to  thee,  who  art  a  wise  man  and  endowed 
"  with  all  virtues.  As  for  myself,  I  rejoice  at  the  condi- 
"  tion  thou  art  in,  and  will  be  subservient  to  thee  in  all 
"  that  thou  sendest  to  me  about ;  for  when  by  my  subjects 
"  I  have  cut  down  many  trees  of  cedar  and  cypress  wood, 
"  I  will  send  them  to  sea,  and  will  order  my  subjects  to  make 
"  floats  of  them,  and  to  sail  to  what  place  soever  of  thy 
"country  thou  shalt  desire,  and  leave  them  there;  after 
"  which,  thy  subjects  may  carry  them  to  Jerusalem.  But 
"  do  thou  take  care  to  procure  us  corn  for  this  timber,  which 
"  we  stand  in  need  of  because  we  inhabit  an  island."* 

Josephus  says : — "  The  copies  of  these  epistles  remain  at 
this  day,  and  are  preserved  not  only  in  our  books,  but 
among  the  Tyrians  also."  They  were  at  that  period 
among  the  records  in  the  city  of  Tyre.  Other  epistles  are 
also  there  recorded,  among  which  were  those  written  by 
Xerxes,  King  of  the  Persians,  to  Ezra;  Artaxerxes  to  the 
Government  of  Judea ;  Antiochus  the  Great  to  Ptolemy 
Epiphanes ;  and  of  the  Samaritans  to  Antiochus,  Alexan- 
der Balas  to  Jonathan,  Onias  to  Ptolemy  and  Cleopatra, 
and  many  others.f 

*  These  epistles  of  Solomon  and  Hiram  are  those  in  1  Kings  v.  3-9,  and 
in  2  Chronicles  ii.  3-16. 

f  Letters  were  generally  in  the  form  of  rolls,  round  a  stick,  or,  if  a 
long  letter,  round  two  sticks,  beginning  at  each  end  and  rolling  them 
until  they  met  in  the  middle.  Books  of  every  size  were  called  rolls.  Our 
word  volume  means  just  the  same  thing  in  its  original  signification. 
Jer.  xxxvi.  2 ;  Ps.  xl. ;  Isa.  xxxiv.  4.  The  roll,  book,  or  letter  was 
commonly  written  on  one  side:  that  which  was  given  to  Ezekiel,  in 
vision,  was  written  on  both,  within  and  without. — Ezek.  ii.  10.  Letters 
then,  as  is  the  custom  in  the  East  at  present,  were  sent  in  most  cases 
without  being  sealed ;  while  those  addressed  to  persons  of  distinction 
were  placed  in  a  valuable  purse,  or  bag,  which  was  tied,  closed  over 
with  clay  or  wax,  and  so  stamped  with  the  writer's  signet.  The  Roman 
scrinium,  or  book-case,  a  very  costly  cabinet,  shows  how  these  rolls  were 
preserved.  They  were  put  in  lengthwise,  and  labeled  at  top. 


POST-  OFFICES— ENGLAND.  57 


V. 


THE  history  of  the  English  post-office  affords  but  little 
interest  to  the  general  reader  beyond  that  which  its  statis- 
tics and  geographical  calculations  afford.  It  is,  however,  a 
history  that  goes  hand  in  hand  with  its  trade  and  commerce  ; 
and  whatever  improvements  have  been  made  upon  its  past 
history  are  owing  altogether  to  the  enterprise  of  those  who 
are  identified  with  those  branches  of  the  world's  great 
business. 

It  is  not  the  statesman  or  the  politician  who  originates, 
but  the  mechanic,  the  farmer,  and  the  merchant.  The 
former  are  the  aristocrats  of  society  ;  the  latter,  the  work- 
ers, —  the  very  bone  and  sinew  of  a  government. 

It  is  to  the  farmer,  the  artisan,  and  the  merchant  that 
art  and  science  are  indebted  to  their  position  among  the 
most  brilliant  things  of  earth.  It  is  to  them  that  com- 
merce owes  wings  to  fly  to  the  remotest  parts  of  the  civil- 
ized world,  laden  with  the  handiwork  of  art  and  the 
richness  of  a  nation's  growth.  Society  becomes  more  dig- 
nified, man  more  ennobled.  It  is  to  this  power  that  kings, 
emperors,  and  lords  owe  their  positions  ;  for  one  word 
from  that  class  will  bring  the  loftiest  head  to  the  block, 
if  by  word  or  action  the  attempt  should  be  made  to  lessen 
or  destroy  that  power  which  elevated  him  or  them  to 
eminence. 

The  commercial  power  of  England  is  its  rule,  and  to  it 
that  nation  owes  all  its  present  greatness.  The  politics  of 
England  is  its  disgrace;  its  commerce,  its  honor.  The 
king  and  Parliament  are  at  the  head  of  the  one,  —  the 
hewers  of  wood  and  drawers  of  water  at  that  of  the  other. 


58  POST-  OFFICES— ENGLAND. 

We  have  already  alluded  to  the  postal  system  organized 
by  the  Emperor  Charlemagne  in  the  year  807.  Yet  in 
China  posts  had  existed  from  the  earliest  times.  These 
were  called  Jambs,  and  were  established  at  a  distance  from 
each  other  of  twenty-five  miles.  This  mode  of  conveying 
letters  was  by  horses;  and  it  is  stated  by  Marco  Polo,  the 
Venetian  traveller,  that  there  were  frequently  as  many  as 
three  or  four  hundred  horses  in  waiting  at  one  of  these 
places.  He  also  states  that  there  were  ten  thousand  sta- 
tions of  this  kind  in  China,  some  of  them  affording  sump- 
tuous accommodation  to  travellers.  Two  hundred  thou- 
sand horses  are  said  to  have  been  engaged  in  the  service. 

Louis  XI.  first  established  post-houses  in  France. 
Post-horses  and  stages  were  first  introduced  into  England 
in  1483. 

The  mounted  posts  in  France  were  stationed  at  dis- 
tances of  four  miles  apart,  and  were  required  to  be 
ready  day  and  night  to  carry  government  messages  as  ra- 
pidly as  possible.  Private  correspondence,  however,  was 
carried  on  very  differently.  The  students  of  a  university 
in  Paris  established  a  postal  institution  in  the  eleventh 
century.  A  number  of  pedestrian  messengers  were  em- 
ployed, who  bore  letters  from  its  thousands  of  students  to 
the  various  countries  of  Europe  from  which  they  came, 
and  brought  to  them  the  money  they  needed  for  the  pro- 
secution of  their  studies. 

The  great  development  of  commerce  following  the  Cru- 
sades, and  the  geographical  discoveries  of  the  Italians, 
Portuguese,  and  Spaniards,  created  a  necessity  for  a  more 
extended  business-correspondence  about  the  beginning  of 
the  sixteenth  century. 

In  Peru,  in  1527,  the  Spanish  invaders  found  a  regular 
system  of  posts  in  operation  along  the  great  highway  from 
Quito  to  Cuzeo,  and  messages  as  to  the  progress  of  the 
invasion,  as  well  as  on  other  subjects,  were  forwarded  to  the 


POST-  OFFICES— ENGLAND.  59 

Inca  by  fleet-footed  runners,  who  wound,  around  their 
waists  the  quipu,  a  species  of  sign-writing,  by  means  of 
knotted  cord. 

In  Sierra  Leone  they  have  what  is  termed  the  "  Kaffir 
letter-carrier,"  who  immediately  on  the  arrival  of  a  vessel 
takes  charge  of  the  letters ;  and,  although  it  should  be 
late  at  night,  he  starts  on  his  mission  into  the  settlement, 
and  actually  arouses  the  sleepers  with  his  cry  of,  "  Ah, 
massa,  here  de  right  book  come  at  last !"  The  Kaffir  car- 
ries his  letters  in  a  split  stick,  which  he  thrusts  under  your 
very  nose  as  he  approaches  with  his  welcome  document. 
He  is  one  of  those  rare  letter-carriers  who  never  tires,  nor 
complains  of  making  too  many  trips  a  day. 

The  regular  riding-post  system  owes  its  origin  to  Ed- 
ward IV.  This  answered  not  only  the  demands  of  the 
government,  but  those  of  merchants,  traders,  and  others. 
The  former  had,  however,  what  were  termed  "govern- 
ment messengers,"  whose  business  was  more  particularly 
to  summon  the  barons,  sheriffs,  and  other  officers.  Heralds 
are  not  to  be  confounded  with  these  messengers,  as  they 
were  more  identified  with  the  military  than  with  the  civil 
power. 

In  the  reign  of  Henry  I.  messengers  were  first  perma- 
nently employed  by  the  king 

"Messengers  lie  sent  throughout  England." 

In  the  reign  of  King  John,  messengers  were  called  the 
"  nuncii :"  subsequently  they  became  attached  to  the  royal 
palace,  and  wore  the  king's  livery,  as-  in  the  reign  of 
Henry  III.  Several  private  letters  are  in  existence, 
dating  as  far  back  as  the  reign  of  Edward  II.,  which  bear 
the  appearance  of  having  been  carried  by  the  nuncii  of 
that  period,  with  "  Haste,  poste,  haste !"  written  on  the 
back. 

Little  or  no  improvement  was  made  in  England  in  the 


60  POST-  OFFICES— ENGLAND. 

postal  system  until  about  the  end  of  Queen  Elizabeth's 
reign.  Even  then  it  simply  corrected  some  of  the  abuses 
of  the  old  system,  by  establishing  what  was  called  "  Mas- 
ter of  the  Postes." 

Some  idea  may  be  formed  of  the  limited  character  of 
this  department  of  her  majesty 's  service,  when  we  state 
that  before  her  death  the  expenses  of  the  post  did  not  ex- 
ceed .£5000  per  annum.  Previous  to  this  estimate,  how- 
ever, the  expenses  were  considerably  larger,  owing  to  the 
careless  manner,  as  well  as  the  extravagance,  of  those  hav- 
ing charge  of  it. 

The  reign  of  Elizabeth  was  more  distinguished  for  its 
number  of  great  men  in  the  world  of  letters  than  for  almost 
any  other  characteristic  feature.  The  names  of  these  have 
been  handed  down  to  us,  identified  with  literature  in  all  its 
various  branches, — statesmen,  warriors,  divines,  scholars, 
poets,  and  philosophers.  Among  them  we  find  the  names 
of  Raleigh,  Drake,  Coke,  Hooker,  and  others  of  higher 
sounding  and  more  frequently  quoted, — Shakspeare,  Sidney, 
Bacon,  Jonson,  Beaumont  and  Fletcher, — men  "  whose 
fame  has  been  eternized  in  her  long  and  lasting  scroll,  and 
who  by  their  words  and  acts  were  benefactors  of  their 
country  and  ornaments  of  human  nature." 

Although  an  age  of  letters,  the  commercial  interest  was 
not  neglected.  Still,  that  attention  was  not  paid  to  the 
merchant's  demands  for  new  laws  and  regulations  which 
the  increasing  business  demanded :  hence  there  arose  a  dif- 
ficulty in  the  postal  system,  which  was  more  immediately 
identified  with  their  interests. 

In  the  early  part  of  the  queen's  reign,  disputes  were  fre- 
quent with  the  foreign  merchants  resident  in  London,  with 
regard  to  the  foreign  post,  which  up  to  this  reign  they 
had  been  allowed  to  manage  among  themselves.  In  1558, 
the  queen's  council  of  state  issued  a  proclamation  "for 
the  redress  of  disorders  in  postes  which  conveye  and  bring 


POST-  OFFICES— ENGLAND.  61 

to  and  out  of  the  parts  beyond  the  seas,  pacquets  of  let- 
ters." 

This  system — a  system  which  the  very  spirit  of  trade 
should  rise  up  against — was  done  away  with,  and  the  sole 
authority  was  given  to  the  "  Master  of  the  Postes,"  who, 
therefore,  took  charge  of  the  foreign  office.  The  title  of 
his  office  was  changed,  in  consequence,  to  that  of  "  Chief 
Postmaster."  Thomas  Randolph  was  the  first  Chief  Post- 
master in  England. 

It  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  during  all  these  periods 
of  English  history  the  "  common  people"  held  little  or  no 
communication  with  each  other :  hence  their  correspond- 
ence was  very  limited.  Few  of  them  could  read  or  write. 
Palmers,  nay,  even  wandering  gipsies,  were  not  unfrequently 
the  "  common  people's"  post.  The  former,  particularly, 
were  trusted  with  letters  and  packets  for  the  "  gentry." 

Under  the  Stuarts  a  regular  system  of  post  was  esta- 
blished, the  benefits  of  which  were  to  be  shared  by  all  who 
could  find  the  means.  Even  then  England  was  behind 
the  other  European  nations  in  establishing  a  public  letter- 
post.  Still,  it  was  a  vast  improvement  on  those  of  the  pre- 
ceding reigns.* 

In  1632,  Charles  I.  approved  of  William  Frizell  and 
Thomas  Witherings,  to  whom  the  office  had  been  assigned 
by  Lord  Stanhope  under  James  I. 

These  two  gentlemen,  as  the  head  of  the  post-depart- 
ment, gave  general  satisfaction,  and  tended  much  to  satisfy 
those  who  had  just  reason  to  complain  of  the  system  as 
heretofore  conducted. 

1635. — Till  this  time  there  had  been  no  certain  and 
constant  intercourse  between  England  and  Scotland. 


*  The  mail  was  carried  on  horseback  with  the  ancient  pack-saddle, 
vulgarly  called  "saddle-bags."  In  passing  along,  he  announced  his 
approach  by  blowing  a  "ram's  horn." 

6 


62  POST-  OFFICES— ENGLAND. 

Thomas  Witherings,  his  majesty's  Postmaster  of  England 
for  foreign  parts,  was  now  commanded  "to  settle  one  or 
two  posts,  to  run  day  and  night  between  Edinburg  and 
London;  to  go  thither  and  come  back  again  in  six  days; 
and  to  take  with  them  all  such  letters  as  shall  be  directed 
to  any  post-town  on  the  same  road;  and  the  posts  to  be 
placed  in  several  places  out  of  the  road,  to  run  and  bring 
and  carry  out  of  the  said  roads  the  letters  as  there  shall  be 
occasion,  and  to  pay  twopence  for  every  single  letter  under 
fourscore  miles ;  and  if  one  hundred  and  forty  miles,  four- 
pence  ;  and  if  above,  then  sixpence.  The  like  rule  the  king 
is  pleased  to  order  to  be  observed  to  Westchester,  Holyhead, 
and  from  thence  to  Ireland;  and  also  to  observe  the  like 
rule  from  London  to  Plymouth,  Exeter,  and  other  places 
in  that  road;  the  like  from  Oxford,  Bristol,  Colchester, 
Norwich,  and  other  places.  And  the  king  doth  command 
that  no  other  messenger,  foot-posts,  shall  take  up,  carry, 
receive,  or  deliver  any  letter  or  letters  whatsoever,  other 
than  the  messengers  appointed  by  the  said  Thomas  With- 
erings, except  common  known  carriers  or  particular  mes- 
sengers to  be  sent  on  purpose  with  a  letter  to  a  friend." — 
Rushworth,  vol.  ii.  p.  104. 

It  will  be  observed,  by  those  who  are  acquainted  with 
the  business  of  the  postal  department,  that  the  above 
forms  the  groundwork  of  that  gigantic  institution  which, 
linking  itself  with  those  of  other  nations,  encircles  the 
whole  civilized  world, 

After  undergoing  many  and  various  changes,  it  became, 
under  the  Protectorate,  a  sort  of  convenience  for  Cromwell 
and  his  council,  who,  taking  advantage  of  its  immense 
power,  made  it  subservient  to  the  interests  of  the  com- 
monwealth. One  of  the  peculiar  features  which  it  as- 
sumed under  Cromwell's  rule  was  that  "  it  might  be  made 
the  agent  in  discovering  and  preventing  many  wicked 
designs  which  have  been  and  are  daily  contrived  against 


POST-  OFFICES— ENGLAND.  63 

the  peace  and  welfare  of  this  commonwealth,  the  intelli- 
gence whereof  cannot  well  be  communicated  except  by 
letters  of  escript." 

A  system  of  espionage  was  thus  established  which  no  one 
having  the  interest  of  the  nation  and  people  at  heart 
could  consistently  subscribe  to.  But  Cromwell's  rule  was 
based  on  fanaticism:  hence  those  leading  principles,  the 
result  of  a  long  and  religious  study,  and  which  made  up 
the  business  character  of  England  before  he  gained  the 
right  to  rule,  were  all  swallowed  up  in  the  vortex  of  his 
own  created  revolutions. 

At'the  Restoration  the  system  became  adapted  to  the 
more  enlightened  intellect  of  the  people,  and  various 
changes  took  place,  which  gave  universal  satisfaction. 
These  were  made  in  the  reign  of  Charles  II. 

Two  years  before  the  death  of  this  monarch  the  first 
penny  post  in  England  was  established  (1683). 

This  establishment  was  originated  by  one  Murray,  an 
upholsterer,  and  it  was  afterwards  assigned  to  Mr.  William 
Docwray,  whose  name  long  subsequently  figured  in  post- 
office  annals.  The  penny  post  was  found  to  be  a  decided 
success.  No  sooner  was  this  fact  made  apparent,  than  the 
Duke  of  York,  on  whom  and  his  heirs  male  in  perpetuity 
the  entire  revenue  of  the  post-office  had  been  settled  by 
stat.  15  Car.  II.  c.  14,  complained  that  this  post  was  an 
infraction  of  his  monopoly. 

In  1685,  Charles  II.  died,  and,  the  Duke  of  York  suc- 
ceeding his  brother,  the  revenues  of  the  post-office  reverted 
to  the  crown.  Throughout  the  reign  of  James  II.  the 
receipts  of  the  post-office  went  on  increasing,  though  no 
great  improvements  were  made  in  the  administration.  It 
was  this  bigoted  king  who  commenced  the  practice  of 
granting  pensions  out  of  the  post-office  revenues.  The 
year  after  he  ascended  the  throne  he  granted  .£4700  a  year 
to  Barbara  Villiers,  Duchess  of  Cleveland,  one  of  his 


64  POST-  OFFICES— ENGLAND. 

brother's  many  mistresses,  to  be  paid  out  of  the  post-office 
receipts.  It  is  a  curious  and  disgraceful  fact  that  this 
pension  is  still  paid  to  the  Duke  of  Grafton  as  her  living 
representative.  The  Earl  of  Rochester  was  allowed  a 
pension  of  £4000  a  year  from  the  same  source.  These 
pensions  were  paid  during  the  reign  of  William  and  Mary, 
and  the  following  pensions  were  added : — 

Duke  of  Leeds , £3500 

Duke  of  Schomberg 4000 

Lord  Keeper 2000 

William  Docwray,  1698 500 

Among  the  post-office  pensions  granted  in  subsequent 
reigns,  Queen  Anne  gave  one,  in  1707,  to  the  Duke  of 
Maryborough  and  his  heirs  of  <£5000.  The  heirs  of  the 
Duke  of  Schomberg  were  paid  by  the  post-office  till  1856? 
when  about  $20,000  were  advanced  to  redeem  a  fourth 
part  of  the  pension,  the  burden  of  the  remaining  part 
being  then  transferred  to  the  Consolidated  Fund.  There 
was,  it  must  be  admitted,  some  semblance  of  reason  in 
giving  Docwray  a  pension,  for  he  had  claims  as  founder 
of  the  district  post  or  the  penny  post;  but  he  only  held 
his  pension  for  four  years,  losing  both  his  emoluments  and 
his  office  in  1698,  when  charges  of  gross  mismanagement 
were  brought  against  him.  Some  of  the  charges  alleged 
are  curious.  It  was  stated  that  he  stopped  "  under  spetious 
pretences  most  parcells  that  are  taken  in,  which  is  a  great 
damage  to  tradesmen,  by  loosing  their  customers  or  spoil- 
ing their  goods,  and  many  times  hazard  the  life  of  the 
patient  when  physick  is  sent  by  a  doctor  or  apothecary." 

Ten  years  after  the  removal  of  Docwray  from  his  office, 
another  rival  to  the  government  department  sprung  up,  in 
the  shape  of  a  half-penny  post.  The  scheme,  established 
by  a  Mr.  Povey,  never  had  a  fair  trial. 

The  first  act  for  establishing  a  general  post-office  in  all 
her  majesty's  dominions  was  the  9th  Anne,  c.  10.  This 


POST-  OFFICES— ENGLAND.  65 

act,  which  remained  long  in  force,  was  the, foundation  of 
all  subsequent  legislation.  By  its  provisions  a  general 
post  and  letter  office  was  established  in  London  for  Great 
Britain,  Ireland,  North  America,  the  West  Indies,  or  any 
other  of  her  majesty 's  dominions,  or  any  country  or  king- 
dom beyond  the  seas.  To  this  end  chief  offices  were 
established  in  Edinburgh,  at  Dublin,  at  New  York,  and 
in  other  convenient  places  in  her  majesty's  colonies  of 
America  and  the  islands  of  the  West  Indies.  The  whole 
of  these  chief  offices  were  to  be  under  the  control  of  an 
officer  to  be  appointed  by  the  queen  by  letters  patent 
under  the  great  seal)  by  the  name  and  style  of  Her 
Majesty's  Postmaster-General.  The  improvements  intro- 
duced by  this  act  increased  the  importance  of  the  post- 
office  and  added  to  the  available  revenue  of  the  country. 
For  ten  years  no  further  steps  were  taken  to  develop  the 
service;  but  in  1720,  Ealph  Allen,  immortalized  by  Pope, 
appeared  on  the  scene,  and  he  was  destined  to  be  one  of 
the  great  improvers  of  the  establishment.  Mr.  Allen, 
who  at  this  time  was  postmaster  of  Bath,  and  who  from 
his  position  was  aware  of  the  defects  of  the  system,  pro- 
posed to  the  government  to  establish  cross-posts  between 
Exeter  and  Chester,  going  by  way  of  Bristol,  Gloucester, 
and  Worcester,  thus  connecting  the  west  of  England  with 
the  Lancashire  district.  The  Bath  postmaster  proposed  a 
complete  reconstruction  of  the  cross-post  system,  guaran- 
teeing improvement  to  the  revenue  and  increased  accom- 
modation to  the  public.  The  Lords  of  the  Treasury 
granted  him  a  lease  of  the  cross-posts  for  life,  his  engage- 
ment being  to  bear  all  the  costs  of  the  new  service  and  to 
pay  a  fixed  rental  of  <£6000  per  year.  The  contract  was 
several  times  renewed  to  Allen,  the  government  on  each 
occasion  stipulating  that  the  service  should  be  extended. 
In  this  wise,  in  1764,  the  period  of  Allen's  death,  it  was 
found  that  the  cross-posts  had  extended  to  all  parts  of  the 

6* 


66  POST-  OFFICES— ENGLAND. 

country.  Notwithstanding  the  losses  he  suffered  through 
the  dishonesty  of  country  postmasters,  Allen  estimated 
the  net  profits  of  his  contract  at  the  sum  of  £10,000 
annually:  so  that  at  the  end  of  his  official  life  he  had 
made  nearly  half  a  million  sterling.  He  bestowed  a  con- 
siderable part  of  his  income  in  supporting  needy  men  of 
letters.  He  was  the  friend  of  Fielding,  of  Pope,  and 
Warburton.  Fielding  has  drawn  his  character  in  the 
person  of  Allworthy,  and  Pope  has  celebrated  his  benevo- 
lence in  the  well-known  lines, — 

"  Let  humble  Allen,  with  an  awkward  shame, 
Do  good  by  stealth  and  blush  to  find  it  fame." 

On  Allen's  death  the  cross-posts  were  brought  under 
the  control  of  the  postmaster-general,  and  the  success  of 
the  amalgamation  was  so  complete  that  at  the  end  of  the 
first  year  profits  to  the  amount  of  .£20,000  were  handed 
over  to  the  crown.  In  subsequent  years  the  proceeds  con- 
tinued to  increase  still  more  rapidly,  so  that  when  the  by- 
letter  office  was  abolished  in  1799  they  had  reached  the 
sum  of  £200,000  per  annum. 

In  the  time  of  George  I.  the  whole  London  post-office 
establishment,  which  at  present  numbers  several-thousand 
officers  of  different  grades,  was  worked,  without  counting 
letter-carriers,  by  a  staff  of  thirty-two  persons  only. 

The  treasury  warrants — warrants  directed  to  the  mas- 
ters of  packet  service,  towards  1701 — franked,  as  Mr. 
Lewins  observes,  the  strangest  commodities.  Among 
others,  fifteen  couple  of  hounds  going  to  the  King  of  the 
Romans,  two  maid-servants  going  as  laundresses  to  my 
lord  ambassador  Methuen,  Doctor  Chrichton,  carrying  with 
him  a  case  and  divers  necessaries,  two  bales  of  stockings 
for  the  use  of  the  ambassador  to  the  court  of  Portugal, 
and  four  flitches  of  bacon  for  Mr.  Pennington,  of  Rotter- 
dam. Nor  were  these  the  only  abuses.  So  little  precau- 


POST-  OFFICES— ENGLAND.  67 

tion  was  used  in  the  reigns  of  George  I.  and  George  II. 
that  thousands  of  letters  passed  through  the  post-office 
with  the  forged  signatures  of  members.  Even  in.  the 
early  part  of  the  reign  of  George  III.  it  was  related,  in 
the  investigation  of  1763,  that  one  man  had  in  the  course 
of  five  months  counterfeited  one  thousand  two  hundred 
dozens  of  franks  of  different  members  of  Parliament.  In 
the  year  1763  the  worth  of  franked  correspondence  passing 
through  the  post-office  was  estimated  at  £170,000.  In 
1764,  when  George  III.  had  been  four  years  on  the  throne, 
it  was  enacted  that  no  letter  should  pass  franked  through 
the  post-office  unless  the  whole  address  was  in  the  M.  P.'s 
handwriting  with  his  signature  attached.  In  1784,  frauds 
still  continuing,  it  was  ordered  that  franks  should  be 
dated,  the  month  should  be  given  in  full,  such  letters  to 
be  put  into  the  post  on  the  day  they  were  dated.  From 
1784  to  the  date  of  the  penny  postage,  no  further  regula- 
tions were  made  as  to  the  franked  correspondence,  the 
estimated  value  of  which  during  these  years  was  £80,000 
annually. 

It  was  fifteen  years  after  the  death  of  the  kindly  and 
benevolent  Allen,  the  postmaster  of  Bath,  that  John 
Palmer,  also  of  Bath,  and  one  of  the  greatest  of  post- 
office  reformers,  rose  into  notice.  Originally  a  brewer, 
Mr.  Palmer  was  in  1784  the  manager  of  the  Bath  and 
Bristol  theatres.  Having  frequently  to  correspond  with 
and  travel  to  London,  Mr.  Palmer  found  that  letters 
which  left  Bath  on  the  Monday  night  were  not  delivered 
in  London  until  the  Wednesday  afternoon  or  night,  but 
that  the  stage-coach  which  left  through  the  day  on  Monday 
arrived  in  London  on  the  following  morning.  He  pointed 
out  to  the  authorities  that  commercial  men  and  tradesmen, 
for  safety  and  speed,  sent  their  correspondence  as  parcels, 
robberies  from  carelessness  and  incompetence  of  post-office 
servants  being  then  frequent.  Mr.  Palmer  was  ready  with 


68  POST-  OFFICES— ENGLAND. 

remedies  for  these  countless  defects.  In  1783  he  sub- 
mitted his  scheme  to  Mr.  Pitt,  who  lent  a  ready  ear.  The 
officials,  however,  were  first  to  be  consulted;  and  they, 
as  is  their  wont,  made  many  and  sweeping  objections  to 
changes  which  they  represented  not  only  to  be  impracti- 
cable and  impossible,  but  dangerous  to  commerce  and  the 
revenue.  Mr.  Pitt,  however,  as  Mr.  M.  D.  Hill  says  in 
an  article  on  the  post-office,  inherited  his  great  father's 
contempt  for  impossibilities.  He  saw  that  Mr.  Palmer's 
scheme  would  be  as  profitable  as  it  was  practicable,  and  he 
resolved  that  it  should  be  adopted. 

Mr.  Palmer  was  installed  at  the  post-office  on  the  day 
of  the  change,  under  the  title  of  Controller-General.  It 
was  arranged  that  his  salary  should  be  .£1500  a  year, 
together  with  a  commission  of  two  and  a  half  per  cent, 
upon  any  excess  of  revenue  over  <£240,000.  The  rates 
of  postage  were  now  slightly  raised ;  but,  notwithstanding, 
the  number  of  letters  began  most  perceptibly  to  increase. 
Several  of  the  principal  towns,  and  notably  Liverpool  and 
York,  petitioned  the  treasury  for  the  new  mail-coaches. 
But,  though  manifest  success  attended  the  introduction  of 
the  Palmer  scheme,  yet  the  authorities  were  determinedly 
opposed  to  the  reformer,  and  he  had  to  contend  with  them 
single-handed.  In  1792,  when  his  plans  had  been  about 
eight  years  in  operation  and  were  beginning  to  exhibit 
elements  of  success,  it  was  deemed  desirable  that  Palmer 
should  surrender  his  appointment.  In  consideration,  how- 
ever, of  his  valuable  services,  a  pension  of  X3000  per 
annum  was  granted  to  him;  but  this  sum  fell  far  short  of 
the  emoluments  which  had  been  promised  to  him,  and  he 
memorialized  the  government,  but  without  success.  He 
protested  against  this  treatment,  and  his  son,  General 
Palmer,  member  for  Bath,  frequently  urged  his  father's 
claims  before  Parliament;  but  it  was  not  until  1813,  after 
a  struggle  of  twenty  years,  that  the  House  of  Commons 


POST-  OFFICES— ENGLAND.  69 

voted  him  a  grant  of  X 50,000.  This  great  benefactor 
of  his  country  died  in  1818.  In  the  first  year  of  the  in- 
troduction of  his  plans,  the  net  revenue  of  the  post-office 
was  about  X250,000.  Twenty  years  afterwards,  the  pro- 
ceeds had  increased  sixfold,  to  no  less  a  sum  than  a  million 
and  a  half, — an  increase  doubtless  partly  attributable  to 
the  increase  of  population,  but  mainly  to  the  punctuality 
and  security  of  the  new  arrangements.  Mails  not  only 
travelled  quicker,  but  Mr.  Palmer  augmented  their  num- 
ber between  the  largest  towns :  three  hundred  and  eighty 
towns,  which  had  in  the  olden  time  but  three  deliveries  a 
week,  had  in  1797  a  daily  delivery.  The  Edinburgh  coach 
required  less  time  by  sixty  hours  to  travel  from  London ; 
and  there  was  a  corresponding  reduction  between  towns  at 
shorter  distances.  For  many  years  after  their  introduc- 
tion, not  a  single  attempt  was  made  to  rob  Palmer's  mail- 
coaches,  which  were  efficiently  guarded. 

In  1836  there  were  fifty  four-horse  mails  in  England, 
whereas  forty  years  before  there  was  not  a  third  of  the 
number.  We  remember  the  annual  procession  of  the 
mail-coaches  on  the  king's  birthday, — a  gay  spectacle, 
which  Mr.  Lewins  is  not  old  enough  to  remember.  Coach- 
men and  guards  on  that  occasion  donned  a  new  red  livery, 
and  all  the  coachmen  and  most  of  the  guards  wore  bouquets 
in  their  button-holes.  In  the  year  1814  the  business 
of  the  post-office  had  increased  so  greatly  that  better 
accommodation  was  sought  than  was  afforded  by  the  office 
then  in  Lombard  Street.  The  first  general  post-office, 
opened  in  Cloak  Lane,  was  removed  from  thence  to  the 
Black  Swan,  in  Bishopsgate  Street.  After  the  fire  of  1666 
a  general  post-office  was  opened  in  Covent  Garden;  but 
it  was  soon  removed  to  Lombard  Street.  In  1825  the 
government  acquiesced  in  the  views  of  the  great  majority 
of  London  residents,  and  St.  Martin's-le-Grand  was  chosen 


70  POST-  OFFICES— ENGLAND. 

for  the  site  of  a  new  building,  to  be  erected  from  the  de- 
signs of  Sir  R.  Smirke. 

It  was  opened  for  business  in  September,  1829.  From 
the  date  of  the  opening,  improvements  ceased  to  be  per- 
tinaciously resisted.  It  was  not,  however,  till  the  late 
Duke  of  Richmond  became  the  postmaster-general,  in  the 
ministry  of  the  late  Earl  Grey,  in  1830,  that  improve- 
ments were  earnestly  forwarded  by  the  head  of  the  depart- 
ment. The  duke,  a  highly  public-spirited  and  patriotic 
man,  was  indefatigable  in  the  service  of  the  department 
over  which  he  was  placed  from  1830  to  1834.  At  first 
his  grace  refused  to  accept  any  remuneration  for  his  ser- 
vices ;  but  at  length,  in  compliance  with  the  strong  repre- 
sentations of  the  treasury  lords  as  to  the  objectionable 
nature  of  gratuitous  services,  "which  must  involve  in  many 
cases  the  sacrifice  of  private  fortune  to  official  station/' 
he  consented  to  draw  his  salary  from  the  date  of  the  trea- 
sury minute  already  referred  to.  In  1834,  Lord  Grey's 
postmaster-general  submitted  a  list  of  improvements  to 
the  treasury  lords,  in  which  at  least  thirty  substantial  mea- 
sures of  reform  were  proposed.  It  was  under  this,  func- 
tionary that  amalgamation  of  the  Irish  and  Scotch  offices 
with  the  English  took  place. 

The  railway  for  the  first  few  years  of  its  existence  ex- 
erted but  little  influence  on  post-office  arrangements.  On 
the  opening  of  the  Liverpool  and  Manchester  line,  how- 
ever, in  1830,  the  mails  of  the  district  were  consigned 
to  the  new  company  for  transmission.  After  railways  had 
been  in  existence  seven  or  eight  years,  their  influence  be- 
came paramount,  and  in  1838  and  1839  acts  were  passed 
to  provide  for  the  conveyance  of  mails  by  them. 

It  was  in  1836  that  Sir  Francis  Freeling,  who  had  been 
secretary  to  the  post-office  since  1797,  a  period  of  forty 
years,  died.  He  was  an  industrious  public  servant  of  the 
old  school,  strictly  performing  his  duty  according  to 


POST-  OFFICES— ENGLAND.  71 

ancient  precedent  and  routine.  He  was  succeeded  in  his 
office  by  Colonel  Maberly,  the  son  of  a  gentleman  who, 
having  amassed  a  considerable  fortune  by  trade,  entered 
Parliament,  and  ultimately  succeeded  Perry  as  the  pro- 
prietor of  the  "Morning  Chronicle."  Colonel  Maberly 
had  been  himself  in  Parliament,  and  was  generally  con- 
sidered a  good  man  of  business;  but  he  was  an  entire 
stranger  to  the  business  of  the  post-office,  and,  according 
to  his  own  evidence  before  the  Select  Committee  on  Post- 
age, wTas  introduced  into  the  office  by  the  treasury  for  the 
purpose  of  carrying  into  effect  the  reforms  which  a  com- 
mission of  inquiry  had  recommended. 

On  the  fall  of  Sir  R.  PeePs  administration,  in  1835, 
the  Earl  of  Lichfield  succeeded  to  the  office  of  postmaster- 
general  under  Lord  Melbourne.  It  must  be  admitted 
that  the  new  postmaster  and  secretary  introduced  many 
important  reforms.  The  money-order  office  was  trans- 
ferred from  private  hands  to  the  general  establishment. 
At  this  juncture  also  commenced  the  system  of  registering 
valuable  letters,  and,  at  the  suggestion  of  Mr.  Rowland 
Hill,  a  number  of  day  mails  were  started  for  the  pro- 
vinces. 

At  the  close  of  1836  the  stamp-duty  on  newspapers 
was  reduced  from  3  Jd  to  Id, — a  reduction  which  led  to  an 
enormous  increase  in  the  newspapers  passing  through  the 
post-office. 

But,  though  these  improvements  were  in  themselves 
commendable,  the  authorities  still  tenaciously  clung  to  the 
old  rates  of  postage,  and  refused  to  listen  to  any  plan  for 
the  reduction  of  postage-rates.  Colonel  Maberly,  the 
secretary,  had  no  sooner  learned  the  business  of  his  office 
than  he  made  a  proposition  to  the  treasury  that  the  letters 
should  be  charged  in  all  cases  according  to  the  exact  dis- 
tance between  the  places  where  a  letter  was  posted  and  de- 
livered, and  not  according  to  the  full  distance.  The  lords 


72  POST-  OFFICES-ENGLAND. 

of  the  treasury  promptly  refused,  to  use  the  language  of 
Mr.  Lewins,  "this  concession." 

In  1837  the  average  general  postage  was  estimated  at 
9 Jd.  per  letter ;  exclusive  of  foreign  letters,  it  was  still  as 
high  as  8fdL  It  is  a  curious  but  significant  fact  that  in 
the  reign  of  Queen  Anne  the  postage  of  a  letter  between 
London  and  Edinburgh  was  less  than  half  as  much  as 
the  amount  charged  at  the  accession  of  Queen  Victoria. 
The  fact  that  the  revenue  derived  from  so  well-protected 
a  monopoly  remained  stationary  for  nearly  twenty  years 
may  be  fairly  attributable  to  these  high  postage-rates.* 

Mr.  Lewins  states  that  the  revenue  derived  in  1815 
from  the  post-office  amounted  to  a  million  and  a  half; 
while  twenty-one  years  afterwards, — in  1836, — notwith- 
standing the  increase  of  trade  and  the  diffusion  of  know- 
ledge, the  increase  of  this  sum  had  only  been  between 
three  and  four  thousand  pounds.  The  evil  of  high  rates 
led  not  merely  to  small  returns,  but  to  the  evasion  of 
postage  by  illicit  means  of  conveyance,  so  that  some  car- 
riers of  letters  were  doing  as  large  a  business  as  the  post- 
office  itself. 

This  will  appear  evident  from  the  statement  that  a  post- 
office  official  seized  a  parcel  containing  eleven  hundred 
letters  in  a  single  bag  in  the  warehouse  of  a  London  carrier. 
The  head  of  this  firm  proffered  instant  payment  of  £500 
if  the  penalties  were  not  sued  for.  The  postmaster-general 
accepted  the  offer,  and  the  letters  passed  throught  the  post- 
office  on  the  same  night. 

So  early  as  1833,  the  late  Mr.  Wallace,  M.  P.  for  Green- 

*  The  number  of  letters  annually  transmitted  throughout  the  king- 
dom is  estimated  at  about  77,000,000 ;  the  gross  receipts  for  postage 
(1837)  were  £2,339,737  18*.  3d.  ;  the  total  cost  of  management  and 
transportation,  £698,632  2s.  2d.,— leaving  a  balance  of  £1,641,105 
10s.  Id.  .as  the  revenue  received  by  the  government  from  the  depart- 
ment. The  number  of  franked  letters  was  7,000,000,— and  44,500,000 
newspapers,  which  were  free  of  postage. 


POST-  OFFICES— ENGLAND.  73 

ock,  drew  the  attention  of  the  House  of  Commons  to  the 
numerous  abuses  in  the  post-office.  There  can  be  no 
question  that  his  frequent  motions  and  speeches  directed 
public  attention  specifically  to  the  subject  and  incalculably 
advanced  the  cause  of  reform.  Mr.  Wallace  was  not 
aided  by  the  government  or  by  the  aristocracy  or  higher 
professional  classes ;  but  he  derived  much  active  support 
from  the  mercantile  and  manufacturing  community,  and 
from  the  shopkeepers  in  all  the  great  towns  of  the  empire. 
It  was  the  ventilation  of  the  subject  of  the  post-office 
by  the  member  for  Greenock  that  first  drew  the  attention 
of  Mr. — now  Sir — Rowland  Hill,  to  the  subject.  The  son 
of  a  country  schoolmaster,  Mr.  Hill  had  for  a  long  time 
acted  as  usher  at  his  father's  establishment  at  Birmingham. 
Being  of  an  active  and  energetic  disposition,  he  left  the 
paternal  roof  for  the  metropolis,  and  was  in  1833,  when 
he  was  about  thirty-eight  years  of  age,  secretary  to  the 
commissioners  for  the  colonization  of  South  Australia. 
Here  he  exhibited  powers  of  organization,  and  we  have 
from  his  own  pen  a  statement  that  he  read  very  carefully 
all  the  reports  on  post-office  subjects.  He  put  himself 
into  communication  with  Mr.  Wallace,  M.  P.,  who  af- 
forded him  much  assistance.  He  also  corresponded  with 
Lord  Lichfield,  then  postmaster-general,  who  imparted 
to  him  the  official  information  he  sought.  In  January, 
1837,  Mr.  Hill  published  the  results  of  his  investiga- 
tions and  embodied  his  schemes  in  a  pamphlet  entitled 
"  Post-Office  Reform :  its  Importance  and  Practicability." 
The  pamphlet  created  a  sensation  in  the  mercantile  world. 
It  was  well  noticed  in  the  "Spectator"  and  "Morning 
Chronicle,"  to  both  of  which  journals  Mr.  HilFs  elder 
brother  Matthew,  now  a  commissioner  of  bankruptcy  at 
Bristol,  contributed.  Mr.  Rowland  Hill  contended  that 
the  post-office  was  not  making  progress  like  other  great 
national  interests, — that  its  revenue  had  diminished  in- 

7 


74  POST-  OFFICES— ENGLAND. 

stead  of  increased,  though  the  population  had  augmented 
six  millions  and  trade  and  commerce  had  proportionally 
increased.  From  data  in  his  possession  Mr.  Hill  pretty 
accurately  proved  that  the  primary  distribution,  as  he 
called  the  cost  of  receiving  and  delivering  the  letters,  and 
also  the  cost  of  transit,  took  two-thirds  of  the  total  cost 
of  the  management  of  the  post-office.  Out  of  the  total 
postal  expenditure  of  £700,000,  Mr.  Hill  calculated  that 
the  amount  which  had  to  do  with  the  distance  letters  tra- 
velled amounted  to  £144,000.  From  calculations  which 
he  then  made,  he  arrived  at  the  conclusion  that  the  average 
cost  of  conveying  each  letter  was  less  than  the  one-tenth 
of  a  penny.  By  this  process  he  deduced  the  conclusion 
that  postage  ought  to  be  uniform.  The  propriety  of  a 
uniform  rate  was  further  demonstrated  by  the  fact  that 
under  the  old  system  the  cost  of  transmission  was  not 
always  dependent  on  distance.  The  case  was  made  still 
plainer  by  these  facts.  An  Edinburgh  letter,  costing  the 
post-office  an  infinitesimal  fraction  of  a  farthing,  was 
charged  Is.  IJd.,  while  a  letter  for  Louth,  in  Lincoln- 
shire, costing  the  post-office  fifty  times  as  much,  was 
charged  ~LOd. 

Mr.  Hill's  four  proposals  were: — 1st,  a  large  diminu- 
tion in  the  rates  of  postage,  even  to  Id.  in  a  half-ounce 
letter;  2d,  increased  speed  in  the  delivery  of  letters;  3d, 
more  frequent  opportunity  for  the  despatch  of  letters; 
4th,  simplification  and  economy  in  the  management  of 
the  post-office,  the  rate  of  postage  being  uniform. 

In  February,  1838,  Mr.  Wallace  moved  for  a  select 
committee  of  the  Commons  to  investigate  Mr.  HilFs  pro-  • 
posals;  but  the  government  resisted  the  measure.  Lord 
Lichfield,  the  postmaster-general,  described  it  as  a  wild, 
visionary,  and  extravagant  scheme.  The  public  at  large 
were  greatly  dissatisfied.  Some  of  the  most  influential 
men  in  the  city  of  London  established  a  committee  for 


POST-OFFICES—ENGLAND.  75 

the  purpose  of  distributing  information  on  the  subject  by 
means  of  pamphlets  and  papers  and  for  the  general  pur- 
poses of  the  agitation.  A  month  or  two  after  Mr.  Wal- 
lace's motion,  Mr.  Baring,  then  Chancellor  of  the  Ex- 
chequer, proposed  a  committee  to  inquire  into  the  present 
rates  of  charging  postage,  with  a  view  to  such  reduction 
as  may  be  made  without  injury  to  the  revenue,  and  for 
them  to  examine  into  the  mode  of  collecting  and  charging 
postage  recommended  by  Mr.  Rowland  Hill.  The  com- 
mittee sat  sixty-three  days,  concluding  their  deliberations 
in  August,  1838.  They  examined  the  principal  officers 
of  the  post-office,  and  eighty-three  independent  wit- 
nesses. 

In  opposition  to  the  views  of  official  men,  Mr.  Hill 
held  that  a  fivefold  increase  in  the  number  of  letters  would 
suffice  to  preserve  the  existing  revenue,  and  he  predicted 
that  the  increase  would  soon  be  reached.  He  showed  that 
the  stage-coaches  then  in  existence  could  carry  twenty- 
seven  times  the  number  of  letters  they  had  ever  yet  done. 
The  post-office  authorities  traversed  every  statement  of 
Mr.  Hill  and  his  supporters,  and  Colonel  Maberly  ex- 
pressed an  opinion  that  if  the  postage  were  reduced  to  one 
penny  the  revenue  would  not  recover  itself  for  forty  or 
fifty  years.  But,  notwithstanding  the  opposition  of  the 
post-office  authorities,  the  committee  reported  for  a  reduc- 
tion of  the  rates,  for  the  more  frequent  despatch  of  letters, 
and  for  additional  deliveries,  adding  that  the  extension  of 
railways  made  these  changes  urgently  necessary.  They 
further  urged  that  the  principle  of  a  low  uniform  rate  was 
just,  and  that  when  combined  with  prepayment  it  would 
be  convenient  and  satisfactory. 

The  commissioners,  consisting  of  Lord  Seymour,  Lord 
Duncannon,  and  Mr.  Labouchere,  proposed  that  any  letter 
not  exceeding  half  an  ounce  should  be  conveyed  free 
within  the  metropolis,  and  the  district  to  which  the  town 


76  POST-  OFFICES— ENGLAND. 

and  country  deliveries  extend,  if  enclosed  in  an  envelope 
bearing  a  penny  stamp. 

The  Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer  had  the  plan  of  a 
uniform  rate  of  postage  embodied  in  a  bill,  which  passed 
in  the  session  of  1839.  This  act,  approved  by  a  majority 
of  one  hundred  and  two  members,  conferred  temporarily 
the  necessary  power  on  the  lords  of  the  treasury.  On  the 
12th  of  November,  1839,  their  lordships  issued  a  minute 
reducing  the  postage  of  all  inland  letters  to  the  uniform 
rate  of  4d  The  country  was  greatly  dissatisfied.  It  re- 
quired Mr.  Hill's  plan;  and  the  fourpenny  rate  was  in  no 
respect  his.  The  treasury  lords  were  at  length  convinced 
they  had  made  a  mistake,  and  on  the  10th  of  January, 
1840,  another  minute  was  issued,  ordering  the»  adoption  of 
a  uniform  penny  rate.  On  the  10th  of  August  the  trea- 
sury had  its  minute  confirmed  by  the  statute  3  &  4  Viet. 
c.  96.  A  treasury  appointment  was  given  to  Mr.  Hill,  to 
enable  him  to  assist  in  carrying  out  the  penny  postage. 
He  only,  however,  held  the  appointment  for  about  two 
years;  for  when  the  conservative  party  came  into  power 
the  originator  of  the  penny  postage  lost  his  situation. 
Mr.  Hill  entreated  to  be  allowed  to  remain  at  any  sacrifice 
to  himself,  but  Sir  R.  Peel  was  obdurate. 

Mr.  HilFs.  popularity  increased  with  his  dismissal.  A 
public  subscription  was  opened  for  him  throughout  the 
country,  as  an  expression  of  national  gratitude,  which 
amounted  to  over  ,£13,000.  On  the  restoration  of  the 
whigs  to  power,  in  1846,  he  was  placed  in  St.  Martin's-le- 
Grand  as  secretary  to  the  postmaster-general.  In  1854, 
on  Colonel  Maberly's  removal  to  the  audit-office,  he  was 
named  secretary  to  the  post-office  under  the  late  Lord 
Canning, — the  highest  appointment  in  the  department. 
In  1860  the  secretary  of  the  post-office  was  made  a  Knight 
Commander  of  the  Bath.  During  the  autumn  of  1863 
his  health  began  to  fail  him,  and  in  March  of  the  present 


POST-  OFFICES— ENGLAND.  77 

year  (1865)  he  resigned  his  situation.  The  executive  gov- 
ernment showed  a  just  and  liberal  sense  of  Sir  Rowland 
HilFs  merits.  By  a  treasury  minute  of  the  llth  of  March, 
1864,  advantage  was  taken  by  the  government  of  the 
special  clause  in  the  Superannuation  Act  relating  to  extra- 
ordinary services,  to  grant  him  a  pension  of  three  times 
the  usual  retiring  allowance.  This  was  not  merely  a  just 
but  a  generous  act;  and  the  language  in  which  the  resolu- 
tion was  couched  was  not  official,  nor  solemnly  and  deco- 
rously dull,  as  is  usual  on  such  occasions,  but  encomiastic 
in  the  highest  degree.  Sir  Rowland  Hill  was  pronounced 
not  merely  a  meritorious  public  servant,  but  a  "benefactor 
of  his  race."  We  do  not  say  this  eulogistic  epithet  was 
not  deserved,  for  we  think  it  was  well  merited ;  but  we 
may  be  permitted  to  remark  that  Sir  Rowland  Hill  has 
lived  in  a  felicitous  time,  thus  promptly  to  find  his  merits 
officially  recognized  on  retiring  from  his  labors. 

Harvey,  Jenner,  Palmer  of  Bath,  of  whom  we  have 
antecedently  spoken,  and  scores  of  other  discoverers  and 
philanthropists,  were  less  fortunate  than  the  late  post- 
office  secretary.  Sir  Rowland  Hill  was  not  only  allowed 
to  retire  on  his  full  salary  of  c£2000  per  annum,  but  Lord 
Palmerston  gave  notice  that  the  pension  should  be  con- 
tinued to  Lady  Hill  in  the  event  of  her  ladyship  surviving 
her  husband.*  Since  this  notice  was  given  by  the  premier, 
an  influential  deputation  of  the  house  waited  on  the  first 
minister  of  the  crown,  strongly  urging  that,  in  place  of  the 
deferred  pension  to  Lady  Hill,  a  Parliamentary  grant,  suf- 

*  Since  the  text  was  written, — namely,  on  the  evening  of  Monday, 
the  6th  of  June, — the  Lord  Chancellor  in  the  one  house  and  Viscount 
Palmerston  in  the  other  communicated  a  message  of  the  queen  of  her 
majesty's  gracious  intention  to  confer  on  Sir  Rowland  Hill  a  sum  of 
£20,000,  and  asking  her  faithful  Commons  to  make  provision  for  the 

7* 


78  POST-OFFICES—ENGLAND. 

ficient,  though  reasonable,  should  be  made  at  once  to  the 
late  secretary. 

We  do  not  say  that  the  social,  moral,  and  commercial 
results  of  the  famous  penny  postage  have  not  been  singu- 
larly wondrous  and  beneficial,  and  that  Mr.  Hill  does  not 
deserve  all  that  has  been  done  for  him  by  ministers,  by 
his  private  friends  and  admirers,  by  the  commercial  and 
manufacturing  community,  and  by  the  public  at  large. 
We  think  the  late  post-office  secretary  fully  deserves  every 
farthing  that  has  been  paid  or  that  may  be  hereafter  paid 
to  him,  whether  as  an  annuity  or  a  gratuity ;  we  think  he 
deserves  the  order  of  K.C.B.,  which  he  obtained,  and, 
further,  that  he  deserves  to  have  his  merits  and  his  name 
commemorated  by  a  statue  intended  to  be  erected  at  Bir- 
mingham in  his  honor.  But  how  few  are  there  in  this 
world  of  ours  who  obtain  a  tithe  of  their  deserts !  Neither 
Harvey,  Jenner,  Newton,  nor  Locke  was  properly  re- 
warded by  his  country.  Newton,  indeed,  passed  many 
years  of  his  life  in  straitened  circumstances,  and  never 
had  any  employment  which  produced  him  more  than  from 
XI 200  to  ,£1500  per  annum,  while  Locke's  commissioner- 
ship  of  appeals  gave  him  only  the  miserable  pittance  of 
£200  a  year.  It  is  the  good  fortune  of  Sir  Rowland 
Hill  to  have  flourished  in  more  liberal  times,  when  merit 
is  fittingly  acknowledged  and  rewarded. 

The  discovery  of  Sir  Rowland  Hill  was  not  a  brilliant 
and  wonderful  so  much  as  a  useful  discovery,  and  there 
can  be  no  doubt  that  he  worked  out  all  the  details  with  a 
patience,  a  perseverance,  and  a  judgment  sure  and  unerr- 
ing. When  the  system  of  penny  postage  had  been  in 
operation  two  years,  it  was  found  that  the  success  of  the 
scheme  had  surpassed  the  most  sanguine  expectations.  It 
almost  entirely  prevented  breaches  of  the  law  and  that 
illicit  correspondence  by  which  the  revenue  had  long  been 
defrauded.  Commercial  transactions  as  to  very  smal] 


POST-  OFFICES—ENGLAND.  79 

amounts  were  chiefly  managed  through  the  post:  small 
money-orders  were  constantly  transmitted  from  town  to 
town  and  from  village  to  village,  the  business  of  the 
money-order  office  having  increased  twentyfold.  No  men 
are  more  indebted  to  the  system  of  the  penny  post  than 
literary  men,  publishers,  and  printers, — manuscripts  and 
proof-sheets  now  passing  to  and  fro  from  one  end  of  the 
kingdom  to  the  other  with  care,  cheapness,  and  celerity. 
Common  carriers,  too,  are  greatly  benefited  by  the  penny 
postage.  Pickford  &  Co.  now  despatch  by  post  more  than 
ten  times  the  number  of  letters  they  despatched  in  1839. 
Mr.  Charles  Knight,  the  London  publisher,  stated  that  the 
penny  postage  stimulated  every  branch  of  his  trade,  and 
brought  the  country  booksellers  into  daily  communication 
with  the  London  houses.  Mr.  Bagster,  the  publisher  of 
the  Polyglot  Bible  in  twenty-four  languages,  stated  to 
Mr.  Hill  that  the  revision  which  he  was  just  giving  to  his 
work  would  on  the  old  system  have  cost  him  £1500  in 
postage  alone,  and  that  the  Bible  could  not  be  printed  but 
for  the  penny  post.  One  of  the  principal  advocates  for 
the  repeal  of  the  Corn  Laws  stated  that  the  objects  of  the 
league  were  achieved  two  years  earlier  than  otherwise, 
owing  to  the  introduction  of  cheap  postage.  Conductors 
of  schools  and  educational  establishments  stated  how  people 
were  learning  everywhere  to  write  for  the  first  time,  in 
order  to  enjoy  the  benefits  of  a  free  correspondence.  In 
all  the  large  towns,  too,  it  was  remarked  that  night-classes 
were  springing  up  for  teaching  writing  to  adults.  As  the 
system  made  progress  with  the  public,  Mr.  Hill's  recom- 
mendations and  improvements  extended  and  expanded. 
A  cheap  registration  started  into  existence,  simplification 
was  introduced  in  the  mode  of  sorting  letters,  slits  were 
suggested  in  the  doors  of  houses,  restriction  as  to  the 
weight  of  parcels  was  removed,  and  a  book-rate  was  esta- 


80  POST-  OFFICES— ENGLAND. 

blished.  It  was  also  suggested  that  railway  stations  should 
have  post-offices  connected  with  them,  and  that  sorting 
should  be  done  in  the  train  and  in  the  packets.  The  union 
of  the  two  corps  of  general  and  district  letter-carriers,  the 
establishment  of  district  offices,  and  an  hourly  delivery 
instead  of  every  two  hours,  were  also  suggested  by  Mr. 
Hill,  and,  after  being  strenuously  combated  by  the  au- 
thorities, carried  by  the  indefatigable  secretary. 

The  amalgamation  of  the  general  post  and  what  were 
called  the  London  district  carriers  did  not  take  place  till 
1855,  when  the  Duke  of  Argyll  was  postmaster-general. 
For  this  amalgamation  Mr.  Hill  had  been  striving  from 
the  commencement.  It  avoided  the  waste  of  time,  trouble, 
and  expense .  consequent  on  two  bodies  of  men — the  one 
being  paid  at  a  much  higher  rate  of  wages — going  over 
the  same  ground. 

A  more  important  step  than  this  was  the  division  of 
London  into  ten  districts.  Under  the  new  arrangement, 
instead  of  district  letters  being  carried  from  the  receiving 
houses  to  the  chief  office  in  St.  Martin's-le-Grand,  to  be 
there  sorted  and  redistributed,  they  were  sorted  and  dis- 
tributed at  the  district  office  according  to  their  address. 
An  important  part  of  the  new  scheme  was  that  London 
should  be  considered  in  the  principal  post-offices  as  ten 
different  towns,  each  with  its  own  centre  of  operations, 
and  that  the  letters  should  be  assorted  and  despatched  on 
this  principle.  A  new  and  special  service  was  brought 
into  operation  between  England  and  Ireland  on  the  1st  of 
October,  1860.  Night  and  day  mail-trains  have  from  that 
date  been  run  from  E  us  ton  Square  to  Holy  head,  and 
special  steamers  have  been  employed  at  an  enormous 
expense  to  cross  the  channel.  Letter-sorting  is  now  car- 
ried on  not  only  in  the  trains  but  on  board  the  packets, 
nearly  all  the  post-office  work  for  immediate  delivery 


LONDON  DISTRICTS.  81 

being   accomplished   between    London   and   Dublin   and 
Dublin  and  London  respectively.* 

The  first  letter  penny  post  was  established  in  Edinburgh 
by  one  Peter  Williamson,  a  native  of  Aberdeen.  He  kept  a 
coffee-shop  in  the  Parliament  House,  and  as  he  was  fre- 
quently employed,  by  gentlemen  attending  the  courts,  in 
sending  letters  to  different  parts  of  the  city,  and  as  he  had 
doubtless  heard  something  of  the  English  penny  post,  he 
began  a  regular  post  with  hourly  deliveries,  and  established 
agents  at  different  parts  of  the  city  to  collect. 

SUMMARY. 

Posts  for  letters,  mode  of  carrying,  invented  in  Paris, 
1470;  post-horses  by  stages,  1483.  Louis  XI.  first  esta- 
blished them  in  France.  In  England,  1581 ;  Germany,  1641 ; 
in  the  Turkish  dominions,  1740.  Offices  erected,  1643,  and 
in  1657 ;  made  general  in  England,  1656 ;  in  Scotland,  1695 ; 
as  at  present  formed,  12  Charles  II.,  December  27,  1660. 
Penny  posts  began  in  London,  1681 ;  taken  in  hand  by  the 
government,  1711;  the  penny  post  made  twopence,  1801. 
Mails  first  conveyed  by  coaches,  August  2,  1784;  the  first 
mail  by  railway,  November  11,  1830,  between  Manchester 
and  Liverpool. 

The  mail  first  began  to  be  conveyed  by  coaches,  on 
Palmer's  plan,  August  2,  1785. 

Posting  and  post-chaises  invented  in  France. 

Post-chaise  tax  imposed,  1779;  altered,  1780. 

LONDON  DISTRICTS. 

The  postal  districts  of  London  are  so  arranged  as  to 
render  favorable  not  only  the  facilities  for  delivering  letters, 

*  Condensed  from  a  work  entitled  "Her  Majesty's  Mails:  an  His- 
torical and  Descriptive  Account  of  the  British  Post-Office."  By  Wil- 
liam Lewins.  London,  Sampson  Low,  Son  &  Marston,  14,  Ludgate 
Hill.  1864. 


82  L  OND  ON  DISTRICTS. 

but  equally  so  to  the  carriers.  The  employees  of  the  Lon- 
don post-office  are  not  overtasked,  nor  are  the  carriers  com- 
pelled as  it  were  to  become  "  beasts  of  burden."  A  want 
of  consideration  on  the  part  of  officials  here  for  those  in 
their  employ  is  a  sad  reflection  on  our  republican  institu- 
tions. Men  who  exercise  a  little  brief  authority  imagine 
themselves  for  the  time-being  taskmasters,  and  those  in 
their  employ  slaves.  Nothing  in  the  world  tends  more  to 
change  a  man's  politics  than  the  abuses  arising  out  of  the 
system  pursued  by  men  in  power  towards  those  in  their 
employ.  Thus  comparisons  are  drawn  between  the  two 
parties,  and  the  course  of  each  is  canvassed ;  and  not  unfre- 
quently,  we  regret  to  say,  the  Democracy  has  the  advantage. 
It  has  always  been  a  principle  of  the  Democratic  party  to 
take  care  of  "  their  men."  It  is  a  fact  that  under  Demo- 
cratic administration  the  salaries  of  the  employees  in  the 
post-office  were  thirty-three  and  one-third  per  cent,  more 
than  they  receive  at  present,  and  that,  too,  when  gold  was 
at  par  and  the  rate  of  living  fifty  per  cent,  cheaper  than  it 
is  now.  The  fact  is,  there  are  not  ten  men  in  the  post- 
office  department  whose  salaries  are  adequate  to  their  wants ; 
and  to  their  just  demand  for  an  increase  of  salary  they 
are  coolly  answered  that  "if  they  are  not  satisfied  they 
can  resign,  as  there  are  plenty  outside  willing  to  take 
their  place."  Is  it  to  be  expected  that  men  so  treated 
can  consistently  admire  a  system  or  maintain  a  principle 
that  strikes  at  the  root  of  their  interest  and  patriotism? 
In  another  part  of  this  work  we  have  alluded  to 
this  subject,  and  referring  to  it  here  is  simply  to  con- 
trast a  portion  of  our  postal  system  with  that  of  the  Eng- 
lish. Let  it  be  distinctly  understood  that  these  remarks 
apply  as  much  to  the  heads  of  the  postal  department  at  Wash- 
ington as  they  do  to  their  officials :  the  latter  simply  imitate 
the  actions  and  carry  out  the  plans  of  their  superiors,  and 
not  unfrequently  in  a  manner  as  insulting  as  their  action 


L  OND  ON  DISTRICTS.  83 

and  conduct  are  repulsive.  Men  in  power  should  be  gen- 
tlemen ;  and  in  selecting  their  assistants,  this  natural 
attribute  of  the  man,  refined  by  education,  would  exercise 
its  influence  in  such  a  manner  as  to  render  such  selection 
a  very  easy  matter.  But,  unfortunately,  in  many  instances 
such  is  not  the  case.  The  great  error  committed  by  the 
fortunate  candidates  for  office  is  that  of  assuming  conse- 
quence, or,  to  use  a  more  familiar  phrase,  "putting  on  airs :" 
it  is  an  error  that  in  part  arises  out  of  our  system  of 
government,  and  is  one  that  can  only  be  corrected  by 
placing  gentlemen  in  high  positions,  instead  of  ignorant, 
brawling  politicians.  It  is  true,  our  government  is  not 
established  upon  a  state  religious  basis ;  or,  if  it  were  so 
intended,  that  corner-stone  has  been  misplaced.  Our  rulers 
are  generally  politicians.  To  obtain  office,  corruption  not 
unfrequently  takes  precedence  of  religion:  hence  injustice, 
wrong,  and  oppression  are  the  means  used  to  insure  suc- 
cess. Examples  thus  set  in  high  places  have  been  followed 
through  all  the  departments ;  peculation  in  office,  fraud  in 
agents,  government  itself  cheated,  are  all  indications  of 
corruption,  and  are  the  strongest  evidences  to  be  adduced 
for  the  increase  of  crime,  the  disregard  of  truth,  and  the 
absence  of  morality  among  us.  Even  our  clergy  display 
more  of  the 

"animum  pictura  pascit  inani"* 

than  they  do  of  the  principle  conveyed  in  this  line  from 

Virgil,- 

"Animus  lucis  contemtor."f 

The  English  post-office,  to  a  certain  extent,  is  a  political 
one ;  but  there  is  one  feature  in  it  which  differs  materially 

*  "  He  fills  his  mind  with  a  vain  or  idle  picture  ;"  or,  "He  feeds  his 
mind  with  empty  representations.  He  dwells  with  eagerness  upon  the 
painted  semblance,"  &c. 

f  "  A  mind  regardless  of  life  [if  sacrificed  in  a  good  cause]." 


84 


TOWN  DELIVERIES. 


from  our  own,  and  it  is  one  that  reflects  the  highest  credit 
on  the  English  government ;  and  that  is,  a  man  is  not  dis- 
charged from  office  simply  on  political  grounds,  but  is 
retained  as  long  as  he  attends  to  his  business  and  conducts 
himself  properly.  The  reward  of  merit  and  long  service 
is,  when  incapable  of  attending  to  his  duties,  a  pension 
from  his  government.  With  these  remarks,  elicited  by 
contrasting  the  two  systems,  we  annex  the  following  synop- 
sis of  the  London  postal  arrangements : — 

(From  the  London  " Postal  Guide"  for  1864.) 
The  London  district  comprises  all  places  within  a  circle 
of  twelve  miles  from  the  general  post-office,  including 
Cheshunt,  Hampton,  Hampton  Court,  and  Sunbury,  and 
the  post  towns  of  Barnet,  Waltham  Cross,  Romford,  Brom- 
ley, Croydon,  Kingston,  and  Hounslow.  It  is  divided 
into  ten  postal  districts,  each  of  which  is  treated,  in  many 
respects,  as  a  separate  post  town.  The  following  are  the 
names  of  the  districts,  with  their  abbreviations,  viz. : — 


Northern N. 

Northeastern N.E. 

Northwestern N.W. 

Southern S. 

Southeastern S.E. 


Southwestern S.W. 

Eastern , E. 

Eastern  Central E.G. 

Western W. 

Western  Central...  W.C. 


By  adding  the  initials  of  the  postal  districts  to  the 
addresses  of  letters  for  London  and  its  neighborhood,  the 
public  will  much  facilitate  the  arrangements  of  the  post- 
office. 

The  district  initials  for  every  important  street  or  place 
are  given  in  the  street  list. 

TOWN  DELIVERIES. 

The  portion  of  each  district  within  about  three  miles  of 
the  general  post-office  is  designated  the  town  delivery,  and 
the  remainder  the  suburban  delivery. 

Within  the  town  limits  there  are  twelve  deliveries  of 


TO  WN  DELIVERIES.  85 

letters  daily.  The  first,  or  general  post  delivery,  including 
all  inland,  colonial,  and  foreign  letters  arriving  in  sufficient 
time,  commences  about  7.30  A.M.,  and  is  generally  com- 
pleted throughout  London  by  nine  o'clock,  except  on  Mon- 
days, or  on  other  days  when  there  are  large  arrivals  of 
letters  from  abroad. 

The  second  delivery,  which  commences  about  nine  A.M., 
includes  the  correspondence  received  by  the  night  mails 
from  Ireland  and  France,  and  letters  from  the  provinces 
and  abroad  which  may  arrive  too  late  for  tlje  first  delivery, 
as  well  as  those  posted  in  the  nearer  suburbs  by  6.30  A.M., 
as  specified  in  the  tables  for  each  district. 

The  next  nine  deliveries  are  made  hourly,  and  include 
all  letters  reaching  the  general  post-office  or  the  district 
offices  in  time  for  each  despatch. 

The  last  delivery  commences  about  7.45  P.M. 

Each  delivery  within  the  town  limits  occupies  about  an 
hour  from  the  time  of  its  commencement,  which  may  be 
averaged  at  from  forty-five  minutes  to  an  hour  from  the 
time  of  despatch  from  the  general  post-office,  according  to 
the  distance  from  St.  Martin's-le-Grand  and  the  number 
of  letters  to  be  arranged  by  the  letter-carriers  for  distribu- 
tion. 

The  provincial  day  mails  are  due  at  various  times,  and 
the  letters  are  included  in  the  next  delivery  after  their 
arrival  in  London.  The  day  mails  from  Ireland,  France, 
and  the  continent  generally,  and  the  letters  received  from 
Brighton  and  other  towns  which  have  a  late  afternoon 
communication  with  London,  are  delivered  the  same  even- 
ing in  London  and  the  suburbs  within  the  six-mile  circle. 

The  suburban  deliveries  are  regulated  in  a  similar  man- 
ner, with  this  difference,  however,  that  in  some  of  the  less- 
thickly  inhabited  portions  the  deliveries  are  necessarily 
fewer. 

8 


THE  POSTE  RESTANTE. 


THE  POSTE  RESTANTE. 

There  is  more  attention  paid  in  England  to  this  letter 
or  paper  inscription  than  there  is  with  us.  The  "  Poste 
Restante"  being  intended  solely  for  the  accommodation  of 
strangers  and  travellers  who  have  no  permanent  abode  in 
London,  letters  for  residence  in  London  must  not  be  ad- 
dressed "  Post-Office  till  called  for."  Letters  addressed 
to  "  initials"  or  "  fictitious  names"  cannot  be  received  at 
the  "  Poste  Restante."  If  so  addressed,  they  are  returned 
to  the  writers. 

With  us,  little  or  no  attention  is  paid  to  this  important 
postal  matter :  hence,  a  letter  addressed  simply  to  "  John 
Smith,  Philadelphia,"  without  the  word  "  Transient,"  "  or 
Poste  Restante,"  must  necessarily  take  its  winding  way 
through  all  the  phases  of  postal  travel  until  it  reaches  the 
dead-letter  office.  We  make  another  extract  from  the  Eng- 
lish "  Postal  Guide  :"— 

"Letters  for  strangers  are  delivered  from  the  Poste 
Restante  for  a  period  of  two  months ;  after  which  period 
they  must  have  them  addressed  to  their  place  of  residence, 
in  order  that  they  may  be  sent  by  the  letter-carriers.  Let- 
ters for  known  residents  in  London,  addressed  to  the  '  Poste 
Restante/  are  retained  for  one  week  only. 

"  Letters  addressed  i  Post-Office,  London/  or  '  Poste 
Restante,  London/  are  delivered  only  at  the  Poste  Restante 
office,  on  the  south  side  of  the  hall  of  the  general  post- 
office,  St.  Martin's-le-Grand ;  and .  at  this  office  also,  and 
there  only,  are  delivered  letters  addressed  to  the  district 
or  branch  offices  in  London.  The  hours  of  delivery  are 
between  nine  and  five. 

"  All  persons  applying  for  letters  at  the  Poste  Restante 
must  be  prepared  to'give  the  necessary  particulars  to  the 
clerk  on  duty,  in  order  to  prevent  mistakes,  and  to  insure 


THE  POSTE  RESTANTE.  87 

the  delivery  of  the  letters  to  the  persons  to  whom  they 
properly  belong." 

The  establishment  of  a  "  Poste  Restante"  on  this  prin- 
ciple would  be  an  important  feature  in  our  post-office,  and 
would  save  both  trouble  and  expense. 


THE  KAFFIR  LETTER-CARRIER. 


VI. 


THE  African  post,  as  we  term  it,  is  of  course  simply 
connected  with  the  European  settlements.  A  system  of 
carrying  letters  is  established,  and  the  principal  messen- 
gers or  carriers  are  the  Kaffirs.  In  the  several  settlements, 
more  particularly  those  of  the  British  at  Sierra  Leone, 
Cape  Coast  Castle,  and  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  and 
at  several  unimportant  establishments  on  the  Gold  and 
Silver  Coasts,  these  messengers  of  the  African  race  were 
not  only  very  useful  in  conveying  letters,  packages,  &c.,  but 
honest,  trustworthy,  and  remarkably  swift  of  foot.  In 
Sierra  Leone  more  particularly  they  were  considered  very 
important  personages.  In  1845  there  was  a  well-known 
character,  called  the  "Kaffir  letter-carrier."  He  was  em- 
ployed to  convey  letters  to  the  South  African  settlement. 
He  carried  his  document  in  a  split  at  the  end  of  a  long 
stick.  He  took  great  interest  in  his  employment  ;  and  if 
a  vessel  arrived  at  a  late  hour  of  the  night,  and  the  letter 
came  into  his  possession  before  morning,  he  would  start  oif 
with  it:  no  matter  how  dark  the  night  or  how  great  the 
distance,  away  he  would  speed.  When  he  reached  the  house 
of  the  person  to  whom  the  letter  was  directed,  —  one  of  his 
customers,  —  he  would  commence  shouting  and  knocking  ; 
and  as  soon  as  the  house  was  alarmed,  he  would  exclaim, 
"  Ah,  massa,  here  de  right  book  come  at  last  !"  This  ex- 
pression was  caused  by  the  anxiety  manifested  by  the  Euro- 
peans generally  to  receive  letters  and  packages  by  every  ves- 
sel. Another  reason  that  might  be  assigned  for  the  activity 
displayed  by  the  Kaffir  letter-carrier  was  the  fact  that  he 


THE  AFRICAN  POST.  89 

* 

usually  displayed  some  extra  trinket  immediately  after 
the  delivery  of  his  letter  or  package.  The  free-delivery 
system  had  not  been  adopted  in  Africa  at  that  period,  nor 
do  we  believe  it  can  boast  of  that  liberal  governmental 
privilege  yet. 

The  name  of  Kaffir,  or  unbeliever,  was  originally  given 
to  the  inhabitants  of  the  southern  coast  of  Africa  by  the 
Moors ;  and,  being  adopted  by  the  Portuguese,  it  became 
the  common  appellation  of  all  the  tribes  occupying  the 
southeastern  coast.  The  Kaffirs  living  beyond  the  Fish 
River,  on  the  eastern  boundary  of  the  colony,  are  a  bold, 
warlike,  and  independent  people,  and  are  supposed  to  be 
of  Arabian  origin. 


8* 


90  -POST-OFFICES—  THE  COLONIES. 


VII. 


"There  were  men  with  hoary  hair 

Amid  that  pilgrim  band  :     , 
Why  had  they  come  to  wither  there, 
Away  from  their  childhood's  land  ?" 

HEMANS. 

IP  fanaticism  had  not  been  mixed  up  with  the  materials 
embarked  on  the  Mayflower,  July  22,  1620,  those  scenes 
which  disgraced  humanity  and  civilization  and  enacted 
under  the  belief  of  witchcraft  would  never  have  occurred 
here;  but,  unfortunately,  that  evil  came  over  with  the 
"Pilgrim  Fathers/7  and  its  consequences  gave  a  dark 
page  to  the  history  of  the  "Land  of  Promise." 

They  were,  it  is  true,  the  pioneers  of  liberty  to  a  certain 
extent,  —  freedom  to  the  body,  but  not  to  the  mind. 

The  chains,  riveted  by  the  old  Gothic  laws  at  that 
period  existing  in  England,  and  by  which  millions  of 
human  creatures  were  held  in  a  state  of  mental  and  phy- 
sical bondage,  were  left  behind,  it  is  true;  but  the  link 
which  bound  them  to  superstition  remained  unbroken. 

Apart  from  this,  however,  their  landing  on  Plymouth 
Kock  was  the  dawn  of  a  new  era,  and  it  gave  an  additional 
spring  to  human  enterprise,  "  opened  new  trains  of  thought, 
new  paths  of  gain  and  of  information." 

"What  sought  they  thus  afar? 
Bright  jewels  of  the  mine, 
The  wealth  of  seas,  the  spoils  of  war? 
They  sought  a  faith's  pure  shrine!" 

Passing  over  the  dark  days  of  witchcraft  and  the  per- 
secution of  the  Quakers,  the  colonial  history  brightens 


POST-OFFICES— THE  COLONIES.  91 

up  under  a  more  tolerant  rule.  That  the  belief  in  witch- 
craft was  a  delusion  arising  from  ignorance,  under  the 
influence  of  which  many  persons  became  frantic,  there 
can  be  no  doubt.  And  yet  there  was  a  method  in  their 
madness  so  cunningly  carried  out  that  it  deceived  many 
far  more  enlightened.  A  writer  speaking  upon  the  sub- 
ject says,  "It  is  but  justice  to  the  inhabitants  of  New 
England  to  observe  that,  though  the  present  age  may 
censure  the  past  for  its  superstition,  neither  England  nor 
any  other  nation  is  entitled  to  cast  the  first  stone  at  them. 
More  persons  were  put  to  death  in  England  in  a  single 
county,  in  a  few  months,  than  suffered  in  all  the  colonies 
during  the  whole  period  of  their  existence." 

The  scenes  that  were  enacted  in  New  England  during 
this  epidemical  reign  of  insanity  gradually  yielded  to  the 
influence  of  reason,  which  under  proper  religious  disci- 
pline once  more  assumed  its  rule.  One  of  the  chief 
causes  which  tended  to  arouse  the  mind  from  its  mental 
darkness  was  the  fact  of  a  dog  being  taken  up  on  sus- 
picion, and  actually  hanged,  as  an  accomplice  of  his  master, 
who  was  accused  of  witchcraft  !*  This  act  capped  the 
climax  of  folly.  People  began  to  wonder  if  such  things 
could  be ;  and  they  actually  took  the  case  of  the  dog  into 
serious  consideration,  and  then  came  to  this  very  wise  con- 
clusion,— that  he  fell  a  martyr  to  the  folly  and  ignorance 
of  a  few  fanatics.  They  then  began  to  ridicule  those  who 
assumed  the  power  to  terrify  the  people  and  who  had 
exercised  it  to  a  bitter  end  over  men  and  animals.  This 
did  more  to  bring  men  to  their  senses  than  all  the  preach- 
ing and  reasoning  of  the  elders  previously.f 


*  Hinton. 

f  That  such  scenes  should  have  taken  place  here  is  not  so  strange, 
when  we  take  into  consideration  the  fact  that  all  England  was  witch- 
mad,  and  the  epidemic  raged  there  subsequent  to  those  atrocities  which 
disgraced  our  colonial  history.  Even  now  the  blush  of  shame  reflects  its 


92  POST-OFFICES— THE  COLONIES. 

Naturally,  while  these  idiotic  scenes  were  enacting,  the 
arts  and  sciences,  commerce  and  manufactures,  were  ma- 
terially neglected ;  but  when  the  glfJom  which  fanaticism 
had  cast  over  this  portion  of  the  colonies  had  passed  away, 
the  dawn  of  reason  and  civilization  awoke  her  benighted 
children  to  a  new  state  of  existence. 

To  trace  up  the  postal  history  of  the  colonies  to  the 
glorious  epoch  of  our  independence  would  be  to  give 
a  history  of  trade  and  commerce,  science  and  art.  To 
these  do  every  thing  useful  and  ornamental  in  the  New 
World  owe  its  existence.  It  is  true  the  postal  depart- 
ment was  at  the  early  age  of  colonial  history  but  a  minor 
consideration.  The  system  was  a  limited  one,  and  con- 
sisted in  having  post-roads  and  post-riders.  Even  here 
the  latter  were  to  be  seen  "like  angels'  visits,  few  and 
far  between."  We  can  draw  one  of  these  from  a  picture 
seen  in  our  boyhood  days.  It  was  in  the  good  old  State 
of  Pennsylvania,  not  many  miles  from  the  city  of  Phila- 
delphia, and  while  trudging  on  our  way  to  the  village 
school,  this  living  picture  presented  itself.  A  tall,  gaunt 
man  sat  on  a  tall,  gaunt  horse ;  he  came  riding  slowly  up 

hue  on  those  pages  devoted  to  witchcraft  in  New  England,  from  the 
cheeks  of  those  who  cannot  read  our  country's  history  without  referring 
to  them.  During  the  seventeenth  century  40,000  persons  are  said  to 
have  been  put  to  death  for  witchcraft  in  England  alone.  In  Scotland 
the  number  was  probably,  in  proportion  to  the  population,  much 
greater ;  for  it  is  certain  that  even  in  the  last  forty  years  of  the  six- 
teenth century  the  executions  were  not  fewer  than  17,000.  In  1743  the 
madness  may  be  said  to  have  reached  its  highest  pitch  ;  for  in  that  year 
occurred  the  celebrated  case  of  the  Lancashire  witches,  in  which  eight 
innocent  persons  were  deprived  of  their  lives  by  the  inherent  falsehoods 
of  a  mischievous  urchin.  The  civil  war,  far  from  suspending  the  pro- 
secution, seemed  to  have  redoubled  it.  In  1644-45  the  infamous 
Matthew  Hopkins  was  able  to  earn  a  livelihood  by  the  profession  of 
witch-finder,  which  he  exercised,  not  indeed  without  occasional  sus- 
picion, but  still  with  general  success.  And  even  twenty  years  later 
the  delusion  was  still  sanctioned  by  the  most  venerable  name  of  tbe 
English  law ! 


POST-OFFICES— THE  COLONIES.  93 

the  road, — this  was  not,  as  now,  a  fast  age :  his  hair  was 
partly  gray,  and  fell  in  tow-looking  ringlets  down  and 
around  his  long,  sinewy  neck.  Over  the  horse's  back 
was  swung  a  large,  well-filled  pair  of  saddle-bags.  He 
was  the  post-rider.  He  had  started  from  the  main  post 
of  the  county,  established  in  Norristown,  to  others  in 
directions  diverging  from  the  main  road.  He  stopped 
his  horse,  and,  raising  his  tall  form,  resting  his  feet  on 
a  pair  of  old  rusty  stirrups,  he  shouted  out,  in  a  voice  of 
mimic  thunder,  "Look  here,  Jim:  take  this  letter  to 
your  mother,  'mediate ;  for  that  is  written  on  the  back ; 
and  as  you  pass  Mrs.  Stroud's,  hand  her  this  newspaper. 
Do  this,  Jim,  and  I'll  give  you  sixpence  next  pay-day." 
Such  was  the  post. 

Connected  with  this  little  incident  there  is  a  somewhat 
curious  coincidence.  Little  did  the  writer  think  then, 
while  acting  as  "an  incipient  post,"  he  should  in  after  years 
find  himself  in  a  position  in  the  Philadelphia  post-office, 
acting  first  as  a  carrier,  and  then  as  clerk,  and  whose  early 
vocations  in  life  were  in  no  manner  identified  with  public 
men  and  public  institutions.  But  what  will  not  revulsions 
in  trade,  politics,  and  governments  effect !  Equally  strange, 
too,  that  forty  years  after  the  little  incident  of  the  "old 
post"  he  should  meet  in  the  same  office  the  son  of  that 
same  Mrs.  Stroud  mentioned  above,  acting  in  a  similar 
capacity.  Truly  may  it  be  said  that  "coming  events  cast 
their  shadows  before  us  on  our  boyhood's  wayward  path." 
But  this  is  a  digression. 

Expresses  and  regular  messengers  were  employed  by 
the  colonists,  and  horses  were  kept  in  constant  readiness 
to  start  on  a  moment's  notice  with  letters  or  packets,  for 
the  government  as  well  as  individuals.  There  was  no 
established  postal  system  but  that  which  the  exigencies  of 
the  times  created.  The  post-riders,  or  rather  government 
messengers,  ran  frequent  risks.  Captain  Hutchinson 


94  POST-OFFICES— THE  COLONIES. 

started  July  4,  1665,  sent  by  the  Governor  of  Massachu- 
setts with  letters  constituting  him  a  commissioner  to  treat 
with  the  JSTarragansetts.  The  "letter  system"  failed  to 
conciliate  the  tribe,  as  they  had  openly  declared  for  Philip ; 
and  here  we  have  another  illustration  of  the  fact  that 
in  cases  of  war  and  rebellion  the  "sword  is  mightier  than 
the  pen."  The  colonial  forces  marched  into  their  country 
and  compelled  them  to  sign  a  treaty,  which,  however,  was 
only  considered  binding  as  long  as  the  forces  sent  against 
them  were  present. 

In  1676,  however,  the  colonial  court  established  a  post- 
office  in  Boston,  appointing  John  Heyward  postmaster. 
Heyward  followed  the  system  as  established  in  England, 
and  placed  posts  and  made  routes  to  the  extent  of  the 
commercial  interest  of  the  State.  This  gave  general  satis- 
faction to  those  who  were  interested  in  this  mode  of  com- 
municating with  men  connected  with  them  in  trade,  as 
also  to  others  who  had  friends  and  relations  scattered 
throughout  what  was  then  a  thinly-populated  State. 

In  the  year  1700,  Col.  J.  Hamilton,  of  New  Jersey,  and 
son  of  Governor  Andrew  Hamilton,  first  devised  the  post- 
office  scheme  for  British  America,  for  which  he  obtained 
a  patent  and  the  profits  accruing.  Afterwards  he  sold  it 
to  the  crown,  and  a  member  of  Parliament  was  appointed 
for  the  whole,  with  a  right  -to  have  his  substitute  reside  in 
New  York.  The  statute  of  Anne,  in  1716,  placed  the 
postal  department  under  the  immediate  control  of  the 
crown. 

The  first  regular  post-office  established  in  the  colonies 
by  Parliament  was  in  1710.  By  its  provisions  a  general 
post-office  was  established  in  North  America  and  the  West 
Indies,  or  any  other  of  her  majesty's  dominions,  or  in  any 
country  or  kingdom  beyond  the  seas,  and  "at  which  office 
all  returns  and  answers  may  be  likewise  received.  For 
the  better  managing,  ordering,  collecting,  and  improving 


POST-OFFICES— THE  COLONIES.  95 

the  revenue,  and  also  for  the  better  computing  and  setting 
the  rates  of  letters  according  to  distance,  a  chief  office  is 
established  in  Edinburgh,  one  in  Dublin,  one  at  New 
York,  and  other  chief  offices  in  convenient  places  in  her 
majesty's  colonies  of  America,  and  one  in*  the  islands  of 
the  West  Indies,  called  the  e  Leeward  Islands.' '' 

That  our  readers  may  form  some  idea  of  the  limited 
use  of  a  post-office  at  that  period,  it  is  only  necessary  to 
state  the  fact  that  in  1708  New  York  contained  but  one 
thousand  houses,  most  of  them  substantially  built.  The 
great  Trinity  Church,  so  called  then,  was  erected  in  1695.* 
A  library  was  established  there  in  1700,  and  the  post-office, 
as  stated  above,  in  1710.  The  post-horse. system,  such  as 
was  pursued  in  England,  continued,  nor  was  it  until  1732 
that  the  first  stage-route  to  Philadelphia  was  established : 
stages  also  departed  for  Boston  monthly,  taking  a  fortnight 
on  the  route. 

The  following  announcement  is  taken  from  the  "  Phila- 
delphia Weekly  Mercury,"  dated  November  30,  1752: — 

"On  Monday  next  the  Northern  post  sets  out  from  New 
York,  in  order  to  perform  his  stage  but  once  a  fortnight 
during  the  winter  quarter;  the  Southern  post  changes  also, 
which  will  cause  this  paper  to  come  out  on  Tuesdays 
during  that  time.  The  colds  which  have  infested  the 
Northern  colonies  have  been  also  troublesome  here;  few 
families  have  escaped  the  same;  several  have  been  carried 
off  by  the  cold,  among  whom  was  David  Brintnall,  in  the 
seventy-seventh  year  of  his  age.  He  was  the  first  man 
that  had  a  brick  house  in  the  city  of  Philadelphia,  and 
was  much  esteemed  for  his  just  and  upright  dealing. 
There  goes  a  report  here  that  the  Lord  Baltimore  and  his 
lady  are  arrived  in  Maryland,  but,  the  Southern  post  being 
not  yet  come  in,  the  said  report  wants  confirmation." 

*  It  was  enlarged  in  1737,  burned  down  in  1776,  rebuilt  in  1778. 
The  present,  building  has  a  steeple  198  feet  high. 


96  POST-OFFICES— THE  COLONIES. 

The  David  Brintnall  mentioned  here  built  the  first 
house  made  of  brick  in  the  city  of  Philadelphia:  it  was 
situated  in  Chestnut  Street  below  Fourth,  and  stood  back 
from  the  street-line,  with  a  small  garden  in  front.  The 
first  house  erected  in  Philadelphia  was  a  wooden  one,  on 
the  east  side  of  Front  Street,  a  little  north  of  the  place 
now  called  "  Little  Dock  Street/7  and  is  said  not  to  have 
been  finished  when  William  Penn  first  arrived.  The 
owner,  John  Guest,  kept  a  public  house  there  for  many 
years.  His  sign  was  a  "Blue  Anchor."  The  town  and 
boroughs  of  Philadelphia  were  located  in  1682. 

Letters  between  New  York  and  Boston  were,  previous 
to  the  introduction  of  stages,  conveyed  on  horseback. 
Madam  Knight,  in  her  journal,  dated  1704,  says  that 
"she  was  two  weeks  in  riding  with  the  postman,  as  her 
guide,  from  Boston  to  New  York.  In  most  of  the  towns 
she  saw  Indians."  In  1702,  Mrs.  Shippen,  soon  after  her 
marriage,  came  from  Boston  to  Philadelphia  on  horseback, 
bringing  a  baby  on  her  lap. 

Even  at  a  much  later  period  the  mode  of  travelling  was 
still  in  a  slow  way,  as  may  be  seen  by  the  following  adver- 
tisement, which  appeared  in  1776: — 

"This  is  to  give  notice  to  the  Publick  that  the  stage 
waggons  kept  by  John  Burrowhill,  in  Elm  Street,  in  Phila- 
delphia, and  John  Mersereax,  at  the  Blazing  Star,  near  New 
York,  intend  to  perform  the  journey  from  Philadelphia  to 
New  York  in  two  days;  also  to  continue  seven  months, 
viz.:  from  the  14th  of  April  to  the  14th  of  November, 
and  the  remaining  five  months  of  the  year  in  three  days. 
The  waggons  to  be  kept  in  good  order,  and  good  horses, 
with  sober  drivers.  They  purpose  to  set  off  from  Phila- 
delphia on  Mondays  and  Thursdays  punctually  at  sunrise, 
and  to  be  in  Prince-Town  the  same  nights,  and  change 
passengers,  and  return  to  New  York  and  Philadelphia  the 


POST-OFFICES— THE  COLONIES.  97 

following  days.  The  passengers  are  desired  to  cross  Pow- 
lass  Hook  Ferry  the  evening  before.  The  waggon  is  not 
to  stay  after  sunrise.  Price,  each  passenger,  from  Powlass 
Hook  to  Prince  Town,  ten  shillings;  from  thence  to 
Philadelphia,  ten  shillings  also ;  Ferriage  free.  Threepence 
each  mile  any  distance  between.  Any  gentlemen  or  ladies 
that  wants  to  go  to  Philadelphia,  can  go  in  the  stage  and 
be  home  in  five  days,  and  be  two  nights  and  one  day  in 
Philadelphia  to  do  business  or  see  the  market-days.  All 
gentlemen  and  ladies  who  are  pleased  to  favour  us  with 
their  custom  may  depend  on  due  attendance  and  civil  usage 
by  those  humble  servants, 

"JOHN  MERSEREAX, 

"JOHN   BUKROWHILL. 
"June,  1776." 

Market-days  in  Philadelphia  at  that  period,  and  long 
afterwards,  were  great  attractions  to  the  country-people, 
even  apart  from  business.  It  was  also  customary  to  ring 
the  bells  of  Christ  Church  on  the  evenings  previous  to 
"market-days"  for  the  edification  of  the  country-people, 
who  had  learned  to  look  upon  them — or  at  least  to  hear 
their  sound — as  more  or  less  identified  with  our  independ- 
ence. There  is  a  peculiar  history  attached  to  these  bells. 
They  were  purchased  in  England  at  a  cost  of  <£900. 
There  were  eight  of  them,  and  their  aggregate  weight  was 
eight  thousand  pounds,  the  tenor  bell  weighing  eighteen 
hundred  pounds.'  In  1777,  fearful  of  their  falling  back 
again  into  English  hands,  they  were  taken  down  and  con- 
veyed to  Allentown,  Pennsylvania,  for  "safe  keeping." 
After  the  evacuation  of  the  city  they  were  replaced,  and 
have  been  ringing  joyfully  ever  since.  They  pealed  forth 
in  gladsome  sounds  when  the  old  State-House  Bell  sounded 
its  note  to  liberty,  and  in  harmony  they  proclaimed  it  to 
the  world.  But  did  the  world  respond?  Did  it  shake  off 


98  EARLY  POSTS. 

the  bonds  which  bound  man  to  man  by  an  iron  chain? 
Did  it  "  proclaim"  alike  to  the  African  that  freedom  was 
his  birthright?  Alas!  no;  for  although  the  Declaration 
of  our  Independence  pronounced  "all  men  equal,"  yet  a 
distinction  was  made  in  color,  and,  under  that  very  docu- 
ment and  the  Constitution,  slavery  came  in,  to  become  in 
time,  what  it  was  'in  reality  before,  a  curse. 

Years  passed  on ;  trade  and  traffic  in  human  flesh  con- 
tinued, until  the  Almighty,  in  his  wondrous  mystery, 
brought  about  their  emancipation  in  a  manner  that  levelled 
the  institution  of  slavery  to  the  ground  forever.  But, 
alas !  have  we  not  as  a  people  and  a  nation  been  severely 
punished?  Established  on  a  basis  of  crime  and  carried 
out  in  a  spirit  of  fiendish  ferocity,  they  dared  call  it  a 
"•divine  institution."  For  this  fearful  error  on  the  part 
of  those  eminent  men  who  framed  that  document,  our 
country  has  suffered  fearfully;  but  these  bells  and  all 
other  bells  will  peal  once  more  under  a  new  order  of 
things,  and  truly  as  well  as  righteously  "proclaim  liberty 
throughout  the  land  to  all  the  people  thereof."  Then 
will  our  land 

"be  blest, 

Its  branchy  glories  spreading  o'er  the  West; 
No  summer  gourd,  the  wonder  of  a  day, 
Born  but  to  bloom,  and  then  to  fade  away, 
A  giant  oak,  it  lifts  its  lofty  form, 
Greens  in  the  sun,  and  strengthens  in  the  storm. 
Long  in  its  shade  shall  children's  children  come, 
And  welcome  earth's  poor  wanderers  to  a  home, 
Long  shall  it  live,  and  every  blast  defy, 
Till  Time's  last  whirlwind  sweep  the  vaulted  sky." 

EARLY  POSTS. 

New  York,  like  Pennsylvania,  has  its  primitive  postal 
history.  The  first  postmaster  at  Schenectady  was  Dr. 
Eleazer  Mosely,  who  died  in  1833,  aged  seventy-three 
years.  He  established  a  post  by  raising  subscriptions 


NEW  YORK  POST-OFFICE.  99 

from  the  inhabitants,  which  operated  very  favorably ;  and 
the  result  was  the  carrying  the  mail  by  contract. 

At  first  the  western  mail  was  carried  from  Albany  once 
a  week,  in  a  valise  on  the  shoulder  of  a  footman. 

As  late  as  the  year  1810  there  was  only  a  weekly  mail 
between  Canandaigua  and  Genesee  River,  carried  on  horse- 
back, and  part  of  the  time  by  a  woman  ! 

In  1730  notice  was  published  to  this  effect : — "  Whoso- 
ever inclines  to  perform  the  foot-post  to  Albany  this  winter 
is  to  make  application  to  Richard  Nichols,  the  postmaster." 
Only  think  of  this,  ye  modern  letter-carriers ! 

The  carrying  of  the  mail  between  New  York  and  Phila- 
delphia previous  to  the  Revolution  was  a  very  small 
matter:  it  was  hardly  an  affair  to  be  robbed.  It  was 
carried  by  a  boy,  who  took  the  whole  in  saddle-bags,  on 
horseback,  three  times  a  week.  Next  it  was  carried  in  a 
sulky ; — next  in  coaches.  What  is  it  now  ? 

In  1753  the  post-office  at  the  Bowling  Green,  Broad- 
way, was,  as  announced,  "  opened  every  day  save  Saturday 
afternoons,  and  Sundays  from  eight  to  twelve  A.M.  and 
from  two  to  four  P.M." 

NEW  YORK  POST-OFFICE. 

The  original  office  was  situated  at  the  corner  of  William 
and  Garden  Streets,  in  which  house  resided  the  then  Post- 
master-General, Theodorus  Bailey.  It  was  also  the  resi- 
dence of  Sebastian  Ballman,  the  first  postmaster  of  the 
city  subsequently  to  the  Revolution,  who  was  appointed  to 
the  office  by  General  Washington.  The  room  used  as  an 
office  was  twenty-five  to  thirty-five  feet  in  length,  and 
contained  one  hundred  boxes.  In  1827  it  was  in  the 
basement  of  the  "  Merchants'  Exchange,"  occupying  two- 
thirds  of  that  extensive  space.  The  Merchants'  Exchange 
is  situated  on  Wall  Street.  It  is  built  of  white  marble. 
Its  front  on  Wall  Street  is  one  hundred  and  fourteen  feet, 


100  INDEPENDENT  POST-OFFICE. 

and  its  depth,  extending  to  Garden  Street,  one  hundred 
and  fifty  feet.  The  portico  of  the  building,  to  which  a 
flight  of  marble  steps  ascends,  is  ornamented  with  Ionic 
columns  twenty-seven  feet  high. 

In  1844  the  post-office  was  removed  to  a  new  building, — 
the  first,  we  believe,  ever  erected  in  that  city  expressly  for 
postal  purposes.*  It  is  situated  on  Nassau  Street,  and  re- 
flects but  little  credit  to  the  city  either  for  its  architectural 
or  business-like  appearance.  There  is  many  a  lager-beer 
establishment  can  compete  with  almost  any  post-office  in 
this  country  in  point  of  those  attractive  qualities  in  archi- 
tectural design  in  which  they  are  so  totally  deficient.  In 
this,  however,  we  are  not  surprised ;  for  the  former  has 
become  an  institution  that  may  well  claim  precedence 
over  almost  any  other  in  the  country.  Lager-beer  saloons 
are  institutions  dedicated  to  death:  hence  their  motto 
should  be  the  Dutch  word  for  beer, — BIER. 

INDEPENDENT  POST-OFFICE. 

An  independent  post-office  was  established  in  New 
York  in  1775.  It  was  suggested  by  William  Goddard, 
the  publisher  of  the  "Maryland  Journal,"  and  John 
Holt,  the  printer,  was  appointed  postmaster.  It  went 

*  The  building  occupied  by  the  post-office  originally  belonged  to  the 
corporation  of  the  Middle  Dutch  Church,  and  was  their  place  of  wor- 
ship from  the  close  of  the  seventeenth  century  until  1844.  Up  to  that 
period  it  was  the  oldest  church-edifice  remaining  in  the  city.  A  great 
part  of  the  wood-work  of  the  steeple,  completely  wrought,  was  brought 
from  Holland.  The  building  itself  was  of  stone.  During  the  Revolu- 
tion it  was  near  the  upper  verge  of  the  city,  its  location  being  upon 
Nassau,  Cedar,  and  Liberty  Streets.  When  the  British  took  possession 
of  the  city  in  1776,  they  used  it  as  a  barracks  for  the  soldiers.  It 
was  afterwards  converted  into  a  hospital,  and  finally  the  pews  were 
removed  and  it  was  made  a  riding-school.  In  1790  it  was  repaired, 
and  again  devoted  to  the  worship  of  God.  It  was  purchased  by  the 
General  Government  in  1861,  for  the  purpose  of  a  post-office,  for 
$250,000. 


JOHN  HOLT.  101 

into  (partial)  operation  on  the  llth  of  May.  The  office 
was  kept  at  Holt's  printing-office. 

There  is  no  doubt  that  the  "  Sons  of  Liberty/7  a  popular 
association  of  Americans,  were  connected  with  this  move- 
ment ;  for  one  of  the  first  acts  of  its  members  was  to  send, 
through  this  office,  threatening  letters  to  the  leading  mem- 
bers of  the  tory  party.  This  association  took  the  lead  in 
political  matters,  and  exercised  a  powerful  influence  over 
the  masses. 

They  also,  in  the  dead  hour  of  the  night,  went  to  Holt's 
printing-office  and  printed  inflammatory  handbills  them- 
selves, and  then  circulated  them  throughout  the  city. 

JOHN  HOLT. 

This  gentleman  was  originally  mayor  of  Williamsburg, 
Virginia.  He  also  established  a  newspaper  there,  arid 
rendered  important  service  to  the  cause  of  the  patriots. 
He  came  to  New  York,  where  ten  years  before  he  had 
published  the  "New  York  Gazette  and  Post-Boy"  in 
company  with  James  Parker.  He  started  another  paper 
shortly  after  his  arrival  in  New  York.  When  the  British 
took  possession  of  the  city,  he  left  it,  and  published  his 
journal  at  Esopus  and  Poughkeepsie.  While  at  the  for- 
mer place  he  published  Burgoyne's  pompous  proclamation, 
also  the  full  account  of  the  dreadful  massacre  in  the 
Wyoming  Valley.  Holt  died  January  30,  1784,  aged 
sixty-four  years. 

The  tongue  of  slander  found  no  poison  in  his  life  to 
bait  shafts  with;  and  justice,  having  awarded  him  all 
praise  in  life,  left  his  memory  and  his  acts  to  the  historian. 

9* 


102  HISTOR  Y  OF  PENNSYL VANIA. 


VIII. 


SKETCH  OF  THE  HISTORY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

WILLIAM  PENN,  the  founder  of  the  colony  of  Penn- 
sylvania, was  born  in  London  in  the  year  1644.  His 
father,  Sir  William  Penn,  was  distinguished  in  the  British 
navy  as  an  able  admiral,  being  commander  of  the  fleet 
at  the  reduction  of  Jamaica  in  1655,  and  contributing 
greatly  to  the  defeat  of  the  Dutch  fleet  in  1664.  For  his 
services  he  was  knighted  by  Charles  II. 

William  Penn  was  entered  in  1660,  as  a  gentleman 
commoner,  at  Christ's  Church,  Oxford  ;  but,  withdrawing 
from  the  national  forms  of  worship,  in  connection  with 
other  students,  who  like  himself  had  attended  the  preach- 
ing of  Thomas  Loe,  an  eminent  member  of  the  Society 
of  Friends,  commonly  called  Quakers,  he  was  punished 
by  fine  for  nonconformity,  and  in  the  succeeding  year,  for 
pertinacious  adherence  to  his  opinions,  was  expelled  from 
the  college.  His  father,  considering  that  his  singularly 
sober  and  serious  manner  of  life  tended  to  prevent  his 
elevation  to  the  honors  of  Charles's  licentious  court,  was 
indignant  at  his  disgrace,  and  therefore  turned  him  out 
of  doors  in  1662,  after,  as  he  says,  being  whipped  and 
beaten. 

He  was,  however,  sent  by  his  father  to  France,  and  after 
his  return  was  entered  at  Lincoln's  Inn  as  a  law-student. 
He  renewed  his  acquaintance  with  Loe  in  Ireland,  where 
he  had  been  sent  to  manage  an  estate  in  1666,  and  showed 
so  much  partiality  to  the  persecuted  sect  of  Quakers  that 
he  was  arrested  at  a  meeting  in  Cork  and  imprisoned  by 


HISTORY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.  103 

the  authorities,  who  at  last  restored  him  to  liberty  at  the 
intercession  of  some  influential  persons.  He  returned  to 
England,  when  he  had  a  violent  altercation  with  his  father, 
who  was  desirous  that  he  should  abandon  habits  so  sin- 
gular, so  offensive  to  decorum,  and  so  opposed  to  esta- 
blished forms ;  and,  refusing  to  appear  uncovered  before 
the  king  and  before  his  father,  he  was  a  second  time  dis- 
missed in  disgrace  from  protection  and  favor. 

In  consequence  of  a  controversial  dispute  in  1668,  when 
he  first  appeared  as  a  preacher,  he  was  sent  to  the  Tower, 
where  he  remained  a  prisoner  for  seven  months,  and 
shortly  after  his  release  he  was,  on  the  passing  of  the 
Conventicle  Act,  again  sent  to  prison  in  Newgate, — from 
which  he  was  liberated  by  the  interest  of  his  father,  who 
about  this  time  became  reconciled  to  him,  and,  dying  some 
time  after,  left  him  an  estate  of  <£1500  per  annum.  Marry- 
ing in  1672,  he  fixed  his  residence  in  Hertfordshire, 
occupying  himself  zealously  in  promoting  the  cause  of 
the  Friends  both  by  preaching  and  writing. 

Soon  after  his  return  from  Holland,  whither  he  had 
gone  in  1677  to  assist  at  a  general  meeting  of  Friends, 
he  petitioned  his  majesty  Charles  II.  for  a  grant  of  land 
lying  north  of  that  already  granted  to  Lord  Baltimore, 
and  west  of  the  now  Delaware.  In  consideration  of  his 
father's  services,  and  of  a  debt  of  sixteen  thousand  pounds 
due  the  admiral  at  his  decease,  the  grant  was  readily 
made,  to  which  the  Duke  of  York  added  by  cession  a 
neighboring  portion  of  territory  on  the  Delaware  to  the 
south  of  the  king's  grant.  The  patent  bore  date  March  4, 
1680-81 ;  and  in  this  instrument  the  king  gave  the  name 
of  Pennsylvania  to  the  province,  in  honor  of  Admiral 
Sir  William  Penn. 

The  day  after  the  charter  was  granted  to  Penn,  he 
wrote  a  letter  to  Robert  Turner,  in  which  he  gives  the 


104  HISTORY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

particulars  of  the  naming  of  his  province.     The  essential 
parts  of  this  letter  we  quote : — 

"...  Know  that,  after  many  waitings,  watchings, 
solicitings,  and  disputes  in  council,  this  day  my  country 
was  confirmed  to  me  under  the  great  seal  of  England, 
with  large  powers  and  privileges,  by  the  name  of  Penn- 
sylvania, a  name  the  king  would  give  it  in  honor  of  my 
father.  I  chose  New  Wales,  being  a  pretty  hilly  country ; 
but  Penn  being  Welsh  for  a  head,  as  Penmanmoire  in 
Wales,  and  Penrith  in  Cumberland,  and  Penn  in  Buck- 
inghamshire, the  highest  land  in  England,  called  this 
Pennsylvania,  which  is  the  high  or  head  woodlands ;  for 
I  proposed,  when  the  secretary,  a  Welshman  refused 
to  have  it  called  New  Wales,  Sylvania,  and  they  added 
Penn  to  it,  and  though  I  much  opposed  it,  and  went  to 
the  king  to  have  it  struck  out  and  altered,  he  said  it  was 
past,  and  would  take  it  upon  him;  nor  could  twenty 
guineas  move  the  under-secretaries  to  vary  the  name,  for 
I  feared  lest  it  should  be  looked  on  as  a  vanity  in  me,  and 
not  as  a  respect  in  the  king,  as  it  truly  was,  to  my  father, 
whom  he  often  mentions  with  praise." 

The  charter  constituting  William  Penn  and  his  heirs 
true  and  absolute  proprietaries  of  Pennsylvania,  saving  to 
the  crown  their  allegiance  and  the  sovereignty,  is  preserved 
in  the  office  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Commonwealth  at 
Harrisburg.  Being  thus  constituted  absolute  proprietor 
and  governor  of  Pennsylvania,  Penn  published  "A  Brief 
Account  of  the  Province,"  proposing  terms  of  settlement 
to  such  as  might  choose  to  remove  thither ;  in  which  land 
was  offered  to  purchasers  at  forty  shillings  per  hundred 
acres,  with  a  quit-rent  of  one  shilling  per  annum.  Many 
persons  embraced  his  offer,  and  several  companies  of  emi- 
grants sailed  to  take  possession  of  their  new  purchase, 
landing,  December,  1681,  at  Chester. 

While  the  colony  was  thus  commenced,  Penn  remained 


HISTORY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.  ]0o 

in  England,  occupied  in  forming  a  government  for  his 
people  and  providing  means  for  its  security. 

Early  in  1682  the  proprietary  published  "The  Frame 
of  Government  of  the  Province  of  Pennsylvania,  together 
with  Certain  Laws,  &c.,"  in  the  preface  to  which  is  found 
a  sketch  of  his  sentiments  on  the  form  and  substance  of 
civil  government. 

The  governor,  having  completed  all  his  preparations, 
sailed  early  in  the  fall  of  1682,  in  company  with  about 
one  hundred  colonists,  mostly  Quakers  from  his  own 
neighborhood,  of  which  number,  however,  about  thirty 
persons  perished  by  small-pox,  which  broke  out  after  their 
departure. 

The  first  colonists  sent  out,  being  chiefly  of  the  Society 
of  Friends,  with  the  predominating  characteristics  of  their 
people,  temperance,  industry,  and  economy,  and  conducting 
themselves  in  the  difficulties  and  hardships  of  their  new 
situation  with  much  prudence  and  circumspection,  avoided 
most  of  the  dangers  to  which  a  new  colony  is  usually 
subject,  and  received  with  demonstrations  of  satisfaction 
the  new  settlers  who  arrived  at  New  Castle  October  24, 
1682.  Immediately  on  his  arrival,  Penn  proceeded  to 
establish  his  government  over  the  colony,  and  the  first 
assembly  was  convened  at  Chester  on  December  4.  This 
legislature,  in  a  session  of  three  days,  passed  laws  annex- 
ing the  lower  counties  ceded  by  the  Duke  of  York  to  the 
province,  confirming  an  act  of  settlement,  and  naturalizing 
resident  foreigners,  and  also  passed  in  form,  after  some 
revision,  the  laws  which  had  been  prepared  in  England. 

After  a  visit  to  Lord  Baltimore  in  his  government  of 
Maryland,  Penn  returned  to  Coaquannock  (the  site  of 
Philadelphia),  and,  still  conscientiously  regarding  the  In- 
dians as  rightful  possessors  of  the  soil,  he  invited  them  to  a 
conference  at  Shackamaxon  (now  Kensington),  where  they 
assembled  in  great  numbers.  A  formal  treaty  of  peace  and 


106  HISTORY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

amity  was  made :  the  Indians  were  paid  for  their  lands,  and 
departed  for  their  homes  full  of  love  and  admiration  for  the 
great  and  good  Onas,  as  they  called  Penn.  For  seventy 
years  this  simple  but  sincere  treaty  remained  inviolate :  of 
it  Voltaire  says,  "  It  was  the  only  treaty  between  these  peo- 
ple and  the  Christians  that  was  not  ratified  by  an  oath,  and 
which  was  never  broken.77  Certain  it  is  that  Penn's  strict 
observance  of  justice  in  paying  for  the  soil,  and  the  inte- 
rest he  manifested,  during  many  successive  treaties,  in 
their  real  welfare,  not  only  operated  to  secure  the  colony 
for  many  years  from  hostile  attacks,  but  implanted  in  the 
generous  though  uncultivated  mind  of  the  Indian  a 
regard  for  Penn  and  the  Quakers  which  bids  fair  to  be 
transmitted  to  the  latest  remains  of  the  race. 

The  capital  of  the  province,  Philadelphia,  was  next  to 
be  laid  out,  of  which  at  the  time  of  Penn's  arrival  not  a 
house  was  completed, — the  colonists  having  in  general  no 
better  lodgings  than  caves  hollowed  out  of  the  high  banks 
of  the  rivers.  The  very  ground  on  which  it  was  proposed 
to  locate  was  in  dispute,  being  claimed  by  some  Swedes, 
who  were  induced  to  relinquish  their  claim  for  a  larger 
portion  of  land  elsewhere.  The  city  was  located  between 
Wicacoa,  now  Southwark,  and  Shackamaxon, — two  miles 
in  length  and  one  in  breadth,  with  a  navigable  river  at 
each  end, — and  was  planned  with  admirable  convenience 
and  regularity  under  the  inspection  of  the  Surveyor- 
General  of  the  province.  During  the  first  year  there 
were  erected  about  eighty  houses;  and  the  establishment 
of  various  mechanical  arts,  as  well  as  a  profitable  trade, 
soon  gave  strength  to  the  infant  city. 

Early  in  1683  the  first  jury  was  impanelled  for  the 
trial  of  one  Pickering,  with  others  as  accessories,  who 
were  convicted  before  the  governor  and  council  of  counter- 
feiting the  Spanish  silver  money  current  in  the  colony. 
The  sentence  discovers  the  same  spirit  of  mildness  and 


HISTORY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.  107 

equity  which  at  this  day  constitutes  the  praise  and  the 
efficacy  of  the  criminal  code  of  the  State.  He  was  to  pay 
a  fine  of  £40  towards  the  building  of  a  court-house, 
standing  committed  until  payment,  find  securities  for  his 
good  behavior,  and  make  restitution  in  good  silver  to 
the  holders  of  his  base  coin,  which,  being  first  melted  down, 
was  to  be  restored  to  him. 

Penn's  interest  at  court  had  declined  considerably,  partly 
caused  by  ambitious  enemies;  but  it  was  soon  restored 
upon  the  death  of  Charles  II.  by  the  accession  of  his  more 
immediate  patron,  James  II.,  which  occurred  shortly  after 
Penn's  arrival  in  England  in  1684.  The  troubles  in  that 
country  during  the  reign  of  James  involved  Penn  and  his 
colony  in  difficulty,  arid  after  the  revolution  of  1688,  which 
placed  William  and  Mary  on  the  throne,  Penn  was  several 
times  imprisoned  in  consequence  of  his  religion  and  his 
supposed  adherence  to  the  cause  of  the  fallen  monarch. 

On  the  prevalence  of  his  enemies  at  court,  he  had  been 
deprived  of  his  government  of  Pennsylvania,  which  was 
annexed  in  October,  1692,  to  that  of  New  York  under 
Colonel  Fletcher. 

The  suspicions  which  had  so  long  rendered  the  king 
unfriendly  to  Penn  were  at  last  removed.  He  was  honor- 
ably acquitted  of  all  charges,  religious  as  well  as  political, 
which  had  been  brought  against  him,  and  his  rights  were 
restored  to  him  by  an  instrument  of  William  and  Mary, 
dated  in  August,  1694. 

We  have  given  this  little  sketch  of  the  history  of  Penn- 
sylvania simply  as  an  episode.  It  is,  however,  connected 
with  that  portion  of  our  subject  which  laid  the  foundation 
for  a  system  of  communication  that  has,  ever  since  the 
introduction  of  trade  and  commerce,  made  up  one  of  their 
chief  facilities  in  business,  and  identified  itself  with  the 
cabinet  of  Washington, — THE  POST-OFFICE  DEPARTMENT. 

In  connection  with  William  Penn  our  readers  will  no 


108  HIST  OR  Y  OF  PENNS  YL  VANIA. 

doubt  be  interested  in  the  following  letter,  which  is  on  file 
in  the  Land  Department  at  the  Capitol,  in  Harrisburg, 
Pennsylvania. 

According  to  the  "  Harrisburg  Telegraph,"  it  appears  to 
be  the  credentials  of  a  Society  of  Free-Traders,  an  organ- 
ized body  of  merchants  which  once  existed  in  London, 
whose  objects  were  to  trade  with  Canada,  at  that  time  a 
comparatively  unknown  country.  The  "Emperor  of 
Canada"  was  supposed  by  the  company  to  be  a  celebrated 
Indian  chief.  The  letter  is  written  on  a  piece  of  parch- 
ment about  two  and  a  half  feet  wide  by  three  feet  in  length. 
The  letters  are  about  an  inch  in  length,  slightly  inclined 
to  the  right,  bold,  and  of  a  very  symmetrical  formation. 
The  first  letters  of  the  first  and  second  lines  are  large  and 
highly  ornamented, — a  style  which  is  yet  kept  by  some  of 
our  first-class  publishers,  who  introduce  ornamental  initial 
letters  to  chapters  in  their  books.  The  signature  of  Penn 
is  nearly  an  inch  long,  with  the  same  inclination  to  the 
right,  but  the  letters  are  not  quite  so  bold  and  gracefully 
formed  as  those  in  the  body  of  the  document: — 

"To  THE  EMPEROK  OF  CANADA: — The  Great  God  that 
made  thee  and  me  and  all  the  world,  Incline  our  hearts  to 
love  peace  and  Justice  that  we  may  live  friendly  together 
as  becomes  the  workmanship  of  the  Great  God.  The 
King  of  England,  who  is  a  Great  Prince,  hath  for  divers 
Reasons,  granted  me  a  large  Country  in  America,  which 
however  I  am  willing  to  Injoy  upon  friendly  terms  with 
Thee.  And  this  I  will  say  that  the  people  who  come 
with  me  are  a  just,  plain  and  honest  people,  that  neither 
make  war  upon  others  nor  fear  war  from  others,  because 
they  are  just.  I  have  set  up  a  Society  of  Traders  in  my 
Province  to  traffic  with  thee  and  thy  people  for  your  com- 
modities, that  you  may  be  furnished  with  that  which  is 
good  at  reasonable  rates.  And  the  Society  hath  ordered 


HISTORY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.  109 

their  President  to  treat  with  thee  about  a  future  Trade, 
and  have  joined  with  me  to  send  this  messenger  with  cer- 
tain presents  from  us  to  testify  our  willingness  to  have 
a  fair  Correspondence  with  thee.  And  what  this  Agent 
shall  do  in  our  names  we  will  agree  unto.  I  hope  thou 
wilt  Kindly  Receive  him,  and  comply  with  his  desires  on 
our  behalf  both  with  respect  to  Land  and  Trade.  The 
Great  God  be  with  thee.  Amen. 

"WM.  PENN, 
"  PHILIP  THEODORE  LEHNMAN,  Sec. 

"  LONDON,  the  21st  of  the  fourth  month,  called  June,  1682." 


10 


110  PHILADELPHIA  POST-OFFICE. 


IX. 


"Among  the  Greek  colonies  and  churches  of  Asia,  Philadelphia  is  still  erect, 
a  column  in  a  scene  of  ruins,  a  pleasing  example  that  the  paths  of  honor  and 
safety  may  sometimes  be  the  same."  —  GIBBON. 

WE  purposely  passed  over  Pennsylvania  in  giving  a 
statistical  account  of  post-offices,  as  we  intend  to  make  the 
Philadelphia  post-office  the  starting-point  of  a  more 
general  history,  as  far  as  the  State  is  concerned,  as  also  a 
more  extended  notice  of  the  system  of  the  general  postal 
department.  Again,  there  are  more  historical  and  remark- 
able events  associated  with  Pennsylvania,  in  connection 
with  the  Revolution,  than  any  other  State  in  the  Union. 

The  history  of  any  one  post-office  after  the  Revolution 
would  be  a  history  of  all  ;  and,  as  the  writer  is  more  familiar 
with  that  of  Philadelphia,  he  is  enabled  to  gather  more 
materials  for  the  miscellaneous  portion  of  his  work  than 
if  he  had  selected  any  other. 

The  general  business  routine  of  one  office  differs  very 
little  from  that  of  another:  yet  every  office  has  its  "un- 
written history"  and  its  own  "romance  and  realities." 

New  York,  with  its  vast  commercial  interests  both  at 
home  and  abroad,  and  justly  termed  the  metropolis  of 
America,  could,  from  the  archives  of  her  post-office,  give 
to  the  world  incidents  that  perhaps  would  find  no  parallel 
in  the  annals  of  all  the  calendars  that  have  registered 
events  of  a  startling  character  since  the  creation  of  the 
world. 

A  post-office,  with  its  millions  of  letters,  is  an  epito- 
mized world.  The  letters  represent  the  human  race,  and 


THE  ROMANCE  OF  THE  POST-OFFICE.  Ill 

contain  the  written  records  of  their  vices  and  virtues ;  or 
it  may  be  compared  to  a  huge  volume,  and  the  letters 
passing  to  and  fro,  the  indexes  to  its  contents. 

Not  that  the  secrets  of  a  post-office  become  known  to 
its  officers  by  improper  means,  but  by  that  process  of 
secret  modes  of  detection  whose  mysterious  workings  are 
unknown  to  those  unconnected  with  the  institution.  Very 
little  behind  the  great  city  we  have  named  stands  that  of 
Philadelphia ;  and  its  post-office,  like  the  tomb,  has  buried 
secrets  which  an  "  Old  Mortality"  alone  has  the  power  to 
bring  forth.  The  task  be  ours  to  paint  the  mysteries  of 
the  postal  tomb. 

THE  ROMANCE  OF  THE  POST-OFFICE. 

History  and  romance  have,  as  it  were,  by  mutual  con- 
sent allied  themselves  together  for  the  sole  purpose  of 
mystifying  mankind.  It  is  true  the  first  cannot  pervert 
a  living  fact,  but  it  can  materially  affect  the  character  of 
one  long  since  passed  away  and  mingled  with  the  revolu- 
tion of  words,  men,  and  nations.  The  latter  is  simply  a 
colorist:  the  one  maps,  the  other  paints.  And  yet  how 
often  do  we  hear  it  said  that  truth  is  stranger  than  fiction ! 
The  romance  of  a  post-office  would  be  a  far  more  truthful 
history  of  the  human  heart  than  any  other  work  ever 
written  upon  the  subject.  The  post-office  is  the  pulsa- 
tion of  a  nation,  the  beating  of  a  million  of  hearts,  and 
its  records  would  be  the  world's  volume.  "A  mail- 
bag,"  says  a  writer,  "is  an  epitome  of  human  life.  All 
the  elements  which  go  to  form  the  happiness  or  misery  of 
individuals — the  raw  material,  so  to  speak,  of  human 
hopes  and  fears — here  exist  in  a  chaotic  state.  These 
elements  are  imprisoned,  like  the  winds  in  the  fabled  cave 
of  JEolus,  e  biding  their  time7  to  go  forth  and  fulfil  their 
office,  whether  it  be  to  refresh  and  invigorate  the  drooping 


112  THE  ROMANCE  OF  THE  POST-OFFICE. 

flower,  or  to  bring  destruction  upon  the  proud  and  stately 
forest  king."* 

We  have  selected  the  Philadelphia  post-office  as  the 
scene  of  our  romantic  portion  of  this  work,  because,  as 
stated,  it  is  familiar  to  us,  and  many  of  the  incidents, 
anecdotes,  &c.  related  came  under  our  immediate  notice. 
We  mention  this  simply  to  do  away  with  any  impression 
that  may  arise  that  our  purpose  was  to  exalt  one  city  over 
another  and  praise  its  institutions  at  the  expense  of  those 
of  other  places.  The  author  having  received  some  little 
credit  as  a  critic  in  another  department  of  our  literature 
for  impartiality  at  least,  it  is  hoped  that  he  will  not  be 
accused  of  a  departure  from  it  in  this  instance. 

The  history  of  Philadelphia  is  fraught  with  much  inte- 
rest; it  is  identified  with  the  name  of  one  whose  mild  and 
conciliating  views  with  regard  to  the  Indians  made  his 
colonization  one  of  holy  peace,  and  gave  to  the  name 
of  Philadelphia  by  Christian  practice  what  its  Biblical 
meaning  conveys, — "the  City  of  Brotherly  Love." 

We  annex  an  extract  from  a  Latin  poem,  inscribed  to 
James  Logan,  Esq.,  by  Thomas  Makin,  dated  1728.  It 
was  found  among  James  Logan's  papers  many  years  after 
his  death.  The  poem  seems  to  have  been  written  for 
amusement  in  his  old  age : — 

"First,  Pennsylvania's  memorable  name 
From  Penn,  the  founder  of  the  country,  came ; 
Sprung  from  a  worthy  and  illustrious  race, 
But  more  ennobled  by  his  virtuous  ways. 
High  in  esteem  among  the  great  he  stood ; 
His  wisdom  made  him  lovely,  great,  and  good. 
Tho'  he  be  said  to  die,  he  will  survive; 
Thro'  future  time  his  memory  shall  live ; 
This  wise  proprietor,  in  love  and  praise, 
Shall  grow  and  flourish  to  the  end  of  days. 

*  "Ten  Years  among  the  Mail-Bags."     By  J.  Holbrook.     1856. 


PENN'S  FIRST  POSTMASTER.  113 

With  just  propriety,  to  future  fame 
Fair  Pennsylvania  shall  record  his  name. 
This  Charles  the  Second  did  at  first  command, 
And  for  his  father's  merits  gave  the  land ; 
But  his  high  virtue  did  its  value  raise 
To  future  glory  and  to  lasting  praise."* 


HENRY  WALDY,  WM.  PENN'S  FIRST  POSTMASTER. 

The  want  of  a  regular  postal  system  was  not  felt  in  the 
colonies  until  they  had  reached  a  certain  point  in  trade, 
commerce,  and  population.  The  mode  of  conveying  letters 
and  packages,  indeed,  as  well  as  merchandise  of  all  kinds, 
was  perfectly  simple  and  of  a  decided  primitive  character. 

Pack-horses  were  used  for  the  purpose  of  conveying 
goods  from  Philadelphia  to  towns  west.  Pack-horses 
afforded  almost  the  sole  means  of  transportation  until 
about  1788,  when  the  roads  were  made  accessible  for 
wagons;  and  even  then,  when  the  first  wagon  made  its 
appearance  at  Carlisle,  Pennsylvania,  the  "packers"  be- 
came greatly  excited,  and  looked  upon  it  as  an  improve- 
ment likely  to  "  ruin  their  trade." 

The  year  1683  was  remarkable  for  the  number  of  emi- 
grants who  arrived  in  the  colony.  It  was  in  this  year  the 
first  Assembly  was  held  in  Philadelphia,  and  laws  enacted 
which  had  a  wonderful  bearing  on  the  future  prospects  of 
the  colony. 

In  July  of  this  year  William  Penn  issued  an  order  for 

*  Thomas  Makin  appears  to  have  been  one  of  the  most  early  settlers 
in  the  province  of  Pennsylvania.  In  1689  he  was  second  master  of  the 
Friends'  grammar-school  in  Philadelphia,  which  was  the  first  of  the 
kind  in  the  province,  and  instituted  about  that  time.  In  1699  he  was 
clerk  for  the  Assembly,  at  four  shillings  per  day.  He  was  called  "a 
good  Latinist." 

In  the  "Mercury"  of  November,  1733,  his  death  is  thus  announced:-  - 
"Last  Tuesday  night,  Mr.  Thomas  Makin,  a  very  ancient  man,  who 
for  many  years  was  a  schoolmaster  in  this  city,  stooping  over  a  wharf- 
end  to  get  a  pail  of  water,  unhappily  fell  in,  and  was  drowned." 

10* 


114  PENN'S  FIRST  POSTMASTER. 

the  establishing  of  a  post-office,  and  granted  to  Henry 
Waldy,  of  Tekonay  (now  written  Tacony),  authority  to 
hold  one,  and  to  supply  passengers  with  horses  from 
Philadelphia  to  New  Castle,  or  to  the  Falls.  The  rates  of 
postage  were  as  follows:  "Letters  from  the  Falls,  3d;  to 
Chester,  5d. ;  to  New  Castle,  7d. ;  to  Maryland,  9d. ;  and 
from  Philadelphia  to  Chester,  2d.;  to  New  Castle,  4c?.; 
and  to  Maryland,  6d"  The  post  went  once  a  week,  and 
was  to  be  carefully  published  "on  the  meeting-house  door 
and  other  public  places." 

There  being  no  other  mode  of  conveyance  except  by 
horse, — wagons  and  stages  not  being  then  established, — 
the  transporting  of  letters  was,  of  course,  made  by  "post- 
horses:"  these  were  of  the  slow  order  and  conducted  on 
that  principle.  It  was  not  until  1756  that  the  first  line 
of  stages  was  established.  The  chief  office  was  in  Straw- 
berry Alley,  at  the  sign  of  the  "Death  of  the  Fox." 

The  stage  vid  Perth  Amboy  and  Trenton  made  its  trip 
to  New  York  in  three  days.  John  Butler  was  the  pro- 
prietor, he  having  been  set  up  in  the  business  by  the  "  Old 
Hunting  Club,"  to  whom  Butler  had  been  huntsman  and 
kennel-keeper.  The  same  year  "  British  packet-boats"  are 
first  announced  between  New  York  and  Falmouth.  In 
1765  a  second  line  of  stages  was  set  up  for  New  York,  to 
start  twice  a  week,  using  three  days  in  going  through,  at 
twopence  a  mile.  It  was  a  covered  Jersey  wagon,  without 
springs,  and  had  four  owners  or  proprietors  concerned  in 
its  management.  The  same  year  the  first  line  of  stages, 
vessels,  and  wagons  is  set  up  from  Philadelphia  to  Balti- 
more vid  Christiana  and  Frenchtown  on  Elk  River,  to  go 
once  a  week  from  Philadelphia.  In  1766  a  third  line  of 
new  stages  for  New  York,  modestly  called  the  "Flying 
Machine,"  and  intended,  of  course,  to  beat  the  two  former 
ones,  was  set  up  to  go  through  in  two  days, — to  start  from 
Elm  Street,  near  Vine  Street,  under  the  ownership  of 


PENN'S  FIRST  POSTMASTER.  115 

John  Barnhill.  They  were  to  be  "  good  stage  wagons,  and 
the  seats  set  on  springs."  Fare,  threepence  per  mile,  or 
twenty  shillings  for  the  whole  route.  In  the  winter  season, 
however,  the  "Flying  Machine"  was  to  cleave  to  the  rough 
roads  for  three  days,  as  in  former  times. 

In  the  "Weekly  Mercury"  of  March  8,  1759,  we  find 
the  following  quaint  advertisement : — 

"PHILADELPHIA  STAGE  WAGGON  AND  NEW  YORK  STAGE  BOAT 

"performs  their  stages  twice  a  week. 

"John  Butler  with  his  waggon,  sets  out  on  Mondays 
from  his  house  at  the  sign  of  the  Death  of  the  Fox,  in 
Strawberry  Ally,  and  drives  the  same  day  to  Trenton 
Ferry,  when  Francis  Holman  meets  him,  and  proceeds  on 
Tuesday  to  Brunswick,  and  the  passengers  and  goods 
being  shifted  into  the  waggon  of  Isaac  Fitzrandolph,  he 
takes  them  to  the  New  Blazing  Star  to  Jacob  Fitzran- 
dolph's  the  same  day,  where  Rubin  Fitzrandolph,  with  a 
boat  well  suted,  will  receive  them  and  take  them  to  New 
York  that  night.  John  Butler  returning  to  Philadelphia 
on  Tuesday  with  the  passengers  and  goods  delivered  to 
him  by  Francis  Holman,  will  again  set  out  for  Trenton 
Ferry  on  Thursday  and  Francis  Holman  <fec.  will  carry 
his  passengers  and  goods,  with  the  same  expedition  as 
above  to  New  York. 

"March  8,  1759." 

"In  1773,  as  perfection  advanced,  Messrs.  C.  Bessonett 
&  Co.,  of  Bristol,"  start  stage-coaches — being  the  first  of 
that  character — to  run  from  Philadelphia  to  New  York  in 
two  days,  for  the  fare  of  $4.  At  the  same  time  "  outside 
passengers"  were  to  pay  20  shillings  each.* 

In  1785  the  legislature  of  New  York  passed  an 'act  of 

*  Watson's  Annals. 


116  PENN'S  FIRST  POSTMASTER. 

exclusive  privilege  for  ten  years  to  Isaac  Vanwick  and 
others  to  run  a  four-horse  stage  from  New  York  to 
Albany  at  fourpence  a  mile.  This  to  encourage  the  ex- 
periment. 

It  would  be  a  curious  history  to  follow  up  that  of  stage- 
coaches until  the  introduction  of  railroads  and  steamboats. 
It  would  be  a  history  fraught  not  only  with  interest,  but 
showing  the  enterprise  of  men  under  a  new  mode  of  gov- 
ernment, and  the  developing  of  minds  which  under 
monarchical  rule  were  chained  as  it  were  to  ignorance  and 
fanaticism.  Liberty  and  that  freedom  a  republican  system 
gives  both  to  mind  and  body  create  a  desire 

"To  learn  and  know  the  truth  of  every  thing 
Which  is  co-natural  and  born  with  it, 
And  from  the  essence  of  the  soul  doth  spring." 

We  have  stated  that  Butler  was  the  "kennel-keeper"  to 
the  Old  Hunting  Club.  This  club  was  composed  of  the 
"  first  men  of  the  day."  The  kennel  for  the  hounds  belong- 
ing to  the  company  was  situated  on  the  brow  of  the  hill 
north  of  Callowhill  Street,  descending  to  Pegg's  Run,  near 
Second  Street.  Butler  lived  in  a  low  brick  house  adjoin- 
ing the  northwest  corner  of  Callowhill  and  Second  Streets. 
Fox-hunting  was  a  favorite  amusement  of  the  club.  When 
the  population  of  the  city  increased  and  game  disappeared, 
the  members  removed  their  establishment  over  to  Glou- 
cester, so  as  to  make  their  hunts  in  the  Jersey  pines. 

The  passion  for  hunting  led  to  other  amusements  not 
quite  so  interesting  or  innocent,  both  as  regarded  their 
character  and  the  influence  they  were  calculated  to  have 
on  society.  These  were  horse-racing  and  bull-baiting. 
The  latter  were  frequent,  more  particularly  in  the  Northern 
Liberties,  and  were  first  supported  chiefly  by  butchers,  but 
gradually  assumed  a  more  aristocratical  character,  being 
encouraged  by  many  members  of  the  "Old  Hunting 


PENN'S  FIRST  POSTMASTER.  117 

Club."  John  Ord,  an  Englishman,  kept  bull-dogs  for 
the  purpose  of  the  breed.  His  establishment  was  at  the 
corner  of  Second  and  High  Streets.  The  cruel  amuse- 
ment of  bull-baiting — one  which  gave  to  Old  Spain  a 
character  for  cruelty  only  equalled  by  that  of  the  Inquisi- 
tion— continued  until  about  1798,  when  Robert  Wharton, 
Esq.,  was  elected  mayor  of  the  city.  He  attended  one  of 
these  "  bull-baits/7  and  actually,  just  as  they  were  about  to 
loose  the  dogs,  jumped  into  the  ring,  and,  calling  aloud, 
said  he  would  arrest  the  first  man  who  should  commence 
the  cruel  work.  The  effect  was  tremendous :  men  started 
back  in  affright;  the  very  dogs  cowed  beneath  the  glance 
of  his  flashing  eyes;  and  the  bull  gave  a  roar, — no  doubt 
one  of  rejoicing  for  his  escape.  There  were  no  more  bull- 
baitings  after  that. 

William  Penn  did  not  enter  upon  his  mission  in  the 
colonies  unprepared  for  all  the  difficulties  he  had  to  en- 
counter, nor  was  he  ignorant  of  the  history  of  those 
nations  and  their  great  cities  which  ages  ago  gave  them  a 
classic  habitation  and  a  home. 

Penn  evidently  had  the  celebrated  city  of  Babylon  in 
view  as  a  model  for  Philadelphia ;  and,  from  a  draft  before 
us,  the  idea,  as  far  as  regularity  and  order  were  concerned, 
appears  to  have  been  well  conceived,  and,  as  proved,  sub- 
sequently carried  out. 

The  history  of  Philadelphia,  as  it  was  during  its  colonial, 
caterpillar  state,  and  as  it  is  now  in  dazzling,  butterfly 
beauty  under  a  far  different  system  of  government,  is 
familiar  to  all :  yet  we  shall  have  occasion,  in  connection 
with  our  subject,  to  allude  to  its  former  history  as  we 
proceed. 

The  post-office  scheme  of  Colonel  John  Hamilton  was 
well  adapted  to  the  wants  of  the  colonists.  In  1717  a 
settled  post  was  established  from  Virginia  to  Maryland, 
which  went  through  all  the  Northern  colonies,  bringing 


118  PENH'S  FIRST  POSTMASTER. 

and  forwarding  letters  from  Boston  to  Williamsburg,  in 
Virginia,  in  four  weeks. 

In  1727  the  mail  to  Annapolis  was  opened,  to  go  once 
a  fortnight  in  summer,  and  once  a  month  in  winter,  vid 
New  Castle,  &c.,  to  the  Western  Shore,  and  back  to  the 
Eastern  Shore,  managed  by  William  Bradford  in  Phila- 
delphia, and  by  William  Parks,  of  Annapolis. 

William  Bradford  established  a  press  in  Philadelphia 
in  1687,  the  first-fruits  of  which  was  a  sheet  almanac. 
The  title  was,  "An  Almanac  for  the  Year  of  the  Chris- 
tian Era  1687 ;  particularly  respecting  the  meridian  and 
latitude  of  Burlington,  but  may  indifferently  suit  all  places 
adjacent.  By  William  Leeds,  Student  in  Agriculture. 
Printed  and  Sold  by  William  Bradford,  near  Philadelphia, 
in  Pennsylvania." 

A  copy  of  this  rare  print  is  in  the  Philadelphia  Library. 

William  Bradford  was  the  then  deputy  postmaster,  but, 
having  proved  negligent  respecting  his  official  accounts, 
was  removed,  and  Benjamin  Franklin  was  appointed  in 
his  stead.  Colonel  Spottswood  was  the  postmaster-general, 
at  whose  instigation  Bradford  was  removed. 

Now  commenced  a  new  and  important  era  in  the  postal 
department  of  our  country,  bearing  date  1737.  It  was 
at  that  period,  however,  a  very  unimportant  matter,  but  in 
time  has  become  a  gigantic  institution.  We  look  back  to 
that  period  now  with  more  interest,  for  two  reasons:  one 
is,  to  contrast  it  with  the  present,  and  the  other,  because 
the  name  of  Benjamin  Franklin  is  identified  with  the  first 
great  move  in  our  postal  history. 

Franklin  assumed  the  deputy-postmastership  in  1737. 
The  only  pecuniary  available  result  from  it,  however,  was 
that  it  afforded  him  better  facilities  for  procuring  news 
for  his  paper,  and  for  its  distribution.  This  paper  was 
originally  entitled  "  The  Universal  Instructor  in  all  Arts 
and  Sciences,  and  Pennsylvania  Gazette,"  and  had  reached 


PENN'S  FIRST  POSTMASTER.  119 

its  thirty-ninth  number  when  its  proprietor  sold  out  to 
Franklin  and  Meredith.  October  2,  1729,  was  the  date 
of  JSTo.  40,  edited  by  B.  Franklin.  It  was  reduced  in 
name  to  "  Pennsylvania  Gazette."  The  increase  and  emolu- 
ments of  his  paper  were  still  further  aided  by  the  diminish- 
ing patronage  received  by  his  rival  Bradford,  the  displaced 
postmaster,  who  had  while  in  office  forbidden  his  post- 
riders  to  distribute  any  papers  but  his  own.  Franklin, 
speaking  of  this  ungenerous  conduct  on  the  part  of  Brad- 
ford, said,  "  I  thought  so  meanly  of  the  practice  on  his 
part,  that  when  I  afterwards  came  into  the  situation  I 
took  care  never  to  imitate  it."  He  also  says,  in  his  Life, 
"  Thus  Bradford  suffered  greatly  from  his  neglect  in  due 
accounting ;  and  I  mention  this  fact  as  a  lesson  to  those 
young  men  who  may  be  employed  in  managing  affairs  for 
others,  that  they  should  always  render  accounts  and  make 
remittances  with  great  clearness  and  punctuality,  &c." 

Perhaps  there  is  no  portion  of  our  postal  history  more 
interesting  than  that  which  characterized  its  early  dawn. 
It  presents  a  sort  of  political  and  financial  struggle  between 
trade,  commerce,  and  a  government.  Franklin,  however, 
settled  the  question  by  making  it  both  a  national  and  com- 
mercial feature.  It  is  also  interesting  to  note  the  difference 
between  the  movements  of  the  public  mail  in  those  old 
colonial  days,  when  its  bags,  at  most  but  a  few  score 
pounds  in  weight,  were  almost  universally  carried  on  horse- 
back, and  in  these  times,  when  it  is  speeded  in  tons  by 
steam ! 

Perhaps  there  was  not  another  man  in  the  colonies 
better  adapted  for  the  postmastership  than  Franklin.  He 
had  been,  up  to  that  period,  an  active  business-man.  He 
was  a  printer,  editor,  compositor,  publisher,  bookseller, 
and  stationer, — in  fact,  a  modern  Faust  in  the  first,  and  a 
Mathew  Carey  in  the  latter. 

The  postal  services  of  the  colonies  now  began  to  assume 


120  PENN'S  FIRST  POSTMASTER. 

a  somewhat  business  form,  and,  although  some  of  these 
services  were  not  immediately  connected  with  the  depart- 
ment, they  were  nevertheless  highly  advantageous  to  the 
community :  as,  for  instance,  letters  arriving  from  beyond 
sea  were  usually  delivered  on  board  the  ship  into  the 
hands  of  the  persons  to  whom  they  were  addressed; 
families  expecting  letters  would  send  a  messenger  on  board 
for  the  purpose  of  receiving  letters.  Those  that  were  not 
called  for  before  the  sailing  of  the  vessel  were  taken  to 
the  "  CofFee-House,"  where  everybody  could  make  inquiry 
for  them ;  thus  showing  that  the  post-office  did  not  seem 
to  claim  a  right  to  distribute  them,  as  now.  Persons 
coming  from  adjacent  settlements  called  at  the  "  Coffee- 
House,"  and  carried  away  not  only  their  own  letters,  but 
all  those  belonging  to  their  neighborhood.  These  were 
called  "  neighborly  posts." 

As  the  trade  of  the  colonies  extended,  the  system  of 
letter-delivery  began  to  vary ;  and  thus  the  "  neighborly 
post"  system  resolved  itself  into  that  of  the  "  post-rider." 

Perhaps  Boston  deserves  the  credit  of  the  first  formation 
of  a  foreign  postal  system;  for  in  1639  the  General  Court 
of  Massachusetts  issued  the  following  decree : — 

u  It  is  ordered  that  notice  be  given  that  Richard  Fair- 
banks his  house  in  Boston  is  the  place  appointed  for  all 
letters  which  are  brought  from  beyond  the  seas,  or  are  to 
be  sent  thither  to  be  left  with  him  ;  and  he  is  to  take  care 
that  they  are  to  be  delivered  or  sent  accordingly  to  the 
directions ;  and  he  is  allowed  for  every  letter  a  penny ;  and 
he  must  answer  all  miscarriages  through  his  own  neglect  in 
this  kind." 

In  Philadelphia,  the  Old  Coffee-House  system  prevailed 
for  many  years. 

In  Virginia,  the  mail-bag  was  passed  along  from  plan- 


PENN'S  FIRST  POSTMASTER.  121 

tation  to  plantation,  and  each  planter  was  required  by  law, 
passed  in  1757,  to  send  a  messenger  with  it  to  his  next 
neighbor,  under  a  penalty  of  a  hogshead  of  tobacco.  Every 
man  took  out  his  own  letters  from  the  bag,  and  so  on  to 
the  remainder. 

In  1672  the  government  of  New  York  established  a 
monthly  mail  to  Boston,  advertising  that  those  disposed 
to  send  letters  should  bring  them  to  the  secretary's  office, 
where,  in  a  a  locket-box,"  they  shall  be  preserved  till  the 
messenger  calls  for  them;  all  persons  paying  the  post 
b^ore  the  "  bagg  be  sealed  up." 

In  1692  the  office  of  postmaster-general  for  North  Ame- 
rica was  created;  but  as  late  as  1704  no  post-rider  went 
farther  east  than  Boston,  or  farther  south  than  Baltimore. 
When  Franklin  was  appointed  postmaster-general,  in  1753, 
the  line  of  posts  still  began  at  Boston,  and  went  no  farther 
south  than  Charleston. 

In  1738  Henry  Pratt  was  made  riding-postmaster  for 
all  the  stages  between  Philadelphia  and  Newport,  Vir- 
ginia, "  to  set  out  in  the  beginning  of  each  month,  and  to 
return  in  twenty-four  days.  To  him  all  merchants,  &c. 
may  confide  their  letters  and  other  business,  he  having  given 
security  to  the  postmaster-general." 

In  1744  it  was  announced  in  the  Gazette  that  the 
"Northern  post  begins  his  fortnight  stages  on  Tuesday 
next  for  the  winter  season."  In  1745  John  Dalley,  Sur- 
veyor of  the  State,  says  that  he  has  just  made  survey  of 
the  road  from  Trenton  to  Amboy,  and  has  set  up  marks 
at  every  two  miles  to  guide  the  traveller ! 

An  attempt  was  made  in  1692  to  establish  post-routes 
throughout  Virginia.  A  patent  was  laid  before  the  Vir- 
ginia Assembly  for  making  a  Mr.  Neal  postmaster-general 
of  that  and  other  parts  of  America;  but  though  the 
Assembly  passed  an  act  in  favor  of  this  patent,  it  had  no 

effect.     The  reason  assigned  was  that  it  was  impossible  to 

11 


122  PENN'S  FIRST  POSTMASTER. 

carry  it  into  execution,  on  account  of  the  dispersed  situa- 
tions of  the  inhabitants. 

The  locality  of  the  colonial  post-offices  is  a  matter  of 
doubt;  but,  as  nearly  all  the  public  departments  were 
located  in  private  houses,  the  presumption  is  that  the 
post-office  was,  under  Bradford,  at  his  printing-office,  and 
it  is  more  than  probable  that  Benjamin  Franklin's  resi- 
dence, corner  of  Second  and  Race,  was,  or  at  least  a  portion 
of  it,  used  for  postal  purposes.  The  first  located  building 
used  for  the  purpose  was  on  the  east  side  of  Water  Street, 
a  few  doors  below  High  Street, — the  same  house  which 
had  before  been  the  residence  of  the  chief  justice. 

It  is  evident  from  the  old  records  that  all  along  Water 
Street  and  Front  Street,  extending  to  South,  the  chief 
business  of  the  city  was  transacted.  The  earliest  papers 
show  by  their  advertisements  that  many  of  the  goods  for 
retail  were  sold  on  Water  Street.  Even  Penn  Street  at 
that  early  period  was  of  some  note ;  and  there  are  to  this 
day  many  buildings  in  its  immediate  vicinity  which  bear 
date  prior  to  1750.  As  early  as  1737  Mrs.  Fishbourne 
kept  a  store  in  Water  Street  below  Walnut,  expressly  for 
"  ladies7  goods."  In  Water  Street  above  Pine  Street,  in 
1755,  there  was  a  fashionable  furnishing-store  for  gentle- 
men's wearing  apparel.  The  "  Old  London  CofFee-House" 
stood  at  the  corner  of  Front  and  Market  Streets :  it  was 
the  resort  of  merchants  and  the  Mite  of  the  city.*  All  that 
portion  of  Front  and  Second  Streets  extending  as  far  down 
as  Almond  was  termed  "  Society  Hill,"  and  was  the  nu- 
cleus around  and  near  which  the  tradesmen,  the  milliners, 
mantuamakers,  and  retail  merchants  gathered. 

William  Penn,  Jr.,  had  a  small  house  at  the  corner  of 

*  This  building,  known  for  many  years  as  "  The  London  Coffee- 
House,"  stood  at  the  southwest  corner  of  Front  and  Market  Streets. 
It  was  erected  in  1701  by  Charles  Reed,  and  was  first  used  as  a  "  coffee- 
house" by  William  Bradford,  the  printer. 


PENN'S  FIRST  POSTMASTER.  123 

Second  and  South  Streets.  The  scenery  in  the  neighbor- 
hood of  Second  and  Dock  Streets  is  described  by  old  his- 
torians as  being  very  beautiful.  Watson  says,  "  Looking 
across  the  'Dock  Creek/  westward,  we  see  all  the  margin 
of  the  creek  adorned  with  every  grace  of  shrubbery  and 
foliage ;  and  beyond  it  a  gently  sloping  descent  from  the 
line  of  Second  Street,  whereon  were  hutted  a  few  of  the 
natives'  wigwams,  intermixed  among  the  shadowy  trees. 
A  bower  near  there,  and  a  line  of  deeper  verdure  on  the 
ground,  marked  'the  Spring/  where  the  naiad  weeps  her 
emptying  urn." 

In  the  neighborhood  of  Union  and  Front  Streets, 
"Alderman  Plumstead"  had  a  splendid  garden  on  the 
"  Sloping  Hill :"  it  was  the  admiration  of  the  town.  In 
1739  the  Kev.  George  Whitefield  preached  to  fifteen  thou- 
sand people  on  "Society  Hill,"  near  to  the  flag-staff  near 
Front  and  Pine.  There  was  also  a  place  of  resort  in  this 
vicinity,  called  "Cherry  Garden."  "The  Friends'  Meet- 
ing-House"  was  also  located  here,  and  "George  Wells's 
place"  was  much  admired.  The  Loxley  House,  which 
stood  back  of  177  South  Second  Street  (old  number), 
below  Little  Dock,  and  only  within  a  few  years  torn  down, 
is  well  known  for  its  historical  reminiscences  to  our 
readers.  Near  to  the  Loxley  House  there  was  a  peculiar 
spring  of  water,  called  "  Bathsheba's  Spring  and  Bower." 
The  origin  of  the  name  is  somewhat  curious.  "Bath- 
sheba  Bowers"  was  the  name  of  a  young  lady.  She 
erected  a  small  house  near  to  the  best  spring  of  water  that 
was  in  our  city.  The  house  she  furnished  with  books,  a 
table,  and  a  cup,  in  which  she,  or  any  that  visited  her, 
drank  of  the  spring.  Some  people  gave  it  the  name  of 
"  Bathsheba's  Bower,"  and  the  spring  long  afterwards  bore 
the  name  of  "Bathsheba's  Spring." 

It  was  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  this  then  beautiful 
portion  of  the  city  the  first  theatre  was  opened. 


124  PENNS  FIRST  POSTMASTER. 

Perhaps  there  are  many  of  our  readers  unacquainted 
with  the  early  history  of  the  stage  and  the  drama  in 
Philadelphia.  True,  much  has  been  written  upon  the  sub- 
ject ;  but  in  almost  every  instance  discrepancies  both  in 
dates  and  names  have  occurred. 

In  the  year  1747,  one  hundred  and  nineteen  years  ago, 
a  company  of  comedians  were  performing  in  this  city. 
As  this  announcement  will  no  doubt  startle  many,  we 
must,  as  pioneers  in  the  cause  of  truth  and  the  drama,  be 
chronological  as  well  as  logical  in  establishing  the  fact. 

The  state  of  society  at  the  period  alluded  to  above  was 
different  from  what  it  is  now.  A  feeble,  sickly  spirit  of 
aristocracy,  even  at  that  early  stage  of  our  history,  dis- 
graced alike  the  moral  and  intellectual  character  of  those 
who  caught  the  infection ;  and  hence  a  bitter  feeling  existed 
among  the  various  classes  making  up  the  great  body  politic. 
This  dangerous  foe  to  all  social  and  religious  forms  was 
brought  over  to  the  colonies  by  a  few  decayed  branches 
of  the  nobility-trees  of  England,  who  had  established 
a  sort  of  "  West  End"  fraternity  along  Front  Street  below 
Spruce  (in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  the  Loxley  House), 
and  which  was  known  for  many  years  as  Society  Hill. 
Broad  lines  of  distinction  were  drawn  between  the  classes, 
and  mechanics  were  looked  upon  as  being  so  far  beneath 
the  consideration  of  these  "Malaprops"  of  real  life  that 
servants  had  to  negotiate  all  business  transactions:  the 
quality  had  nothing  to  do  with  them  ! 

In  the  principal  streets,  such  as  Second,  Front,  Spruce, 
and  even  as  far  down  as  South  Street,  various  artisans, 
shopkeepers,  and  others  had  established  themselves  in 
business;  and  it  was  here  the  first  attempt  was  made 
to  enact  plays  and  lay  the  foundation  of  the  drama's 
temple. 

The  Quakers,  and  the  more  sober  portion  of  other  de- 
nominations, left  no  means  untried  to  break  up  what  they 


PENN'S  FIRST  POSTMASTER.  125 

termed  "  these  Satan-like  doings."  It  is  true,  these  exhi- 
bitions were  not  publicly  announced,  and  the  citizens 
generally  were  not  aware  of  their  secret  place  of  exhibiting 
"profane  plays."  Private  as  they  were,  however,  suffi- 
cient publicity  was  given  to  them  to  create  an  alarm 
among  a  class  of  people  possessing  all  the  primitive  quali- 
ties, as  well  as  virtues,  of  their  great  founder. 

The  dawn  of  literature  in  this  country  (that  is,  admitting 
it  ever  had  a  morning)  dates  at  a  much  later  period  than 
the  year  1747.  It  is  true  many  obstacles  stood  in  the 
way  of  its  advancement ;  apart  from  which,  the  colonists 
were  not  a  reading  community,  and  the  press  throughout 
the  land  might  be  likened  unto  "angels'  visits,  few  and 
far  between."  It  is  true  the  colonists  could  boast  of  a 
few  names,  whose  works  bear  date  as  far  back  as  1640. 
In  1639  manuscripts  were  used  in  courts.  The  laws  by 
which  the  colonies  were  governed  were  not  printed  until 
1641.  The  art  of  printing  was  introduced  into  North 
America  in  1639.  The  first  printing-press  established  in 
the  States  was  put  up  at  Cambridge,  Massachusetts,  in 
1639,  by  Stephen  Day.  In  1640  he  published  the  Bay 
Psalm-Book.  The  year  1678  may  be  said  to  form  an  era 
in  our  literature ;  for  at  that  time  John  Foster,  Boston, 
published  the  works  of  Anne  Bradstreet;  in  1676,  Peter 
Folger  wrote  and  published  his  famous  "  Looking-Glass 
for  the  Times."  Various  poems,  orations,  sermons,  &c. 
&c.,  were  published ;  but  it  was  not  until  1720  the  first 
play  loos  ivritten  on  the  American  continent ;  and  we  deem 
it  of  sufficient  importance  to  engross  it  in  our  sketch  of 
the  American  stage. 

Benjamin  Coleman,  or,  as  some  wrote  it,  Colman,  was 
born  in  Boston,  October  19,  1676.  While  at  Harvard 
College,  he  wrote  the  tragedy  of  "  Gustavus  Yasa ;"  and 
this  was  the  first  play  enacted  by  a  company  of  amateurs 
in  the  colonies.  The  history  of  our  literature  is  associated 

11* 


126  PENN'S  FIRST  POSTMASTER. 

with  that  of  the  press :  without  the  press  it  would  have 
been  as  learning  was  when  vellum  and  beech  received 
the  impression  of  certain  figures  called  letters,  and  were 
sold  at  enormous  prices,  in  proportion  to  the  intellectual 
and  physical  labor  bestowed  upon  their  productions.  The 
moment  the  press  was  put  in  operation  in  Connecticut, 
poetry,  Pallas-like,  sprang  from  its  mystic  womb,  and,  if 
unlike  Pallas,  completely  armed,  was  at  least  so  decently 
clad  that  criticism  faltered  at  the  threshold  of  censure. 
The  next  play  written  and  the  first  published  in  the  colo- 
nies was  "  The  Prince  of  Parthia,"  by  Thomas  Godfrey : 
it  was  printed  in  1768.  A  copy  of  it  is  in  the  Philadelphia 
Library.  This  author  was  the  son  of  Thomas  Godfrey, 
a  glazier,  and  inventor  of  the  celebrated  quadrant  now  in 
use.  He  was  born  in  Philadelphia,  in  the  year  1736. 
We  never  refer  to  these  pioneers  in  the  cause  of  our  drama 
and  literature  without  feeling  a  desire  to  moralize.  In- 
deed, to  look  back  over  a  series  of  years,  and  call  up 
images  to  the  mind  which  have  long  since  passed  away, 
strikes  so  forcibly  the  conviction  of  man's  identity  with 
the  infinite  works  of  God,  that  he  trembles,  while  he 
meditates,  and  feels  his  own  insignificance  while  mourn- 
ing o'er  "visions  fled." 

They  are  brought  up  to  our  view  by  the  "Old  Mor- 
talities" of  every  generation ;  and  the  selfsame  enthusiastic 
feeling  which  prompted  them  to  remember  coming  ages 
urges  us  to  fulfil  our  destiny  in  this.  It  would  be  curious 
to  us  in  this  generation,  if  it  were  possible,  to  raise  up  the 
curtain  of  the  mouldering  past  and  bring  to  view  "the 
things  that  were," — paint  the  lowly  dwellings  of  our 
ancestors,  the  simplicity  and  primitive  qualities  of  their 
minds,  and  the  stern  moral  rectitude  of  their  even  lives. 
All  this  would  contrast  fearfully  with  what  we  are  now, 
not  only  as  regards  our  temporal  but  our  spiritual  state. 
If  we  differ  from  our  good  old  friends  of  the  eighteenth 


PENN'S  FIRST  POSTMASTER.  ]27 

century,  it  is  on  the  subject  of  the  drama  and  the  strange 
notion  they  had  of  its  immoral  tendency;  for  we  never 
could  imagine  that  the  choicest  gems  from  the  British 
poets — conveyed  to  us  through  the  medium  of  the  stage — 
could  have  any  other  effect  than  to  exalt  the  mind,  expand 
the  intellect,  and  open  to  the  view  the  rich  and  inexhaust- 
ible mental  wealth  of  the  mimic  world.  It  would  be 
curious,  we  say,  if  it  were  possible  to  describe  that  state 
of  society  which  could  exist  without  musk,  poetry,  and 
painting, — a  state  of  society  no  doubt  perfectly  moral, 
strictly  pure,  but  rather  stiffly  starched  with  the  old-fash- 
ioned notions  of  propriety  and  the  right  of  enjoyment. 
At  that  period,  dancing  was  prohibited,  and  a  fencing- 
master  from  Paris  almost  hunted  down  for  attempting  to 
teach  the  art  in  this  city.  It  is  true,  a  few  wax  figures 
and  Punch  and  Judy  made  their  appearance  on  some 
holidays ;  but  they  soon  melted  away  before  the  heat  of  puri- 
tanical sunshine. 

We  now  come  to  the  first  attempt  at  theatrical  represent- 
ations. In  the  year  1747  a  company  was  formed,  com- 
posed chiefly  of  young  men  whose  education  and  birth 
placed  them  in  positions  to  advance  the  cause  of  science  or 
art,  as  their  tastes  and  inclinations  might  have  led  them  to 
advocate.  A  family  by  the  name  of  Courtland,  an  Eng- 
lish family,  had  but  recently  arrived  in  this  country,  and, 
possessing  many  of  the  prevailing  notions  at  that  time 
popular  in  England,  their  astonishment  at  our  total  igno- 
rance of  the  drama  and  its  literature  was  fully  shown  by 
a  display  of  their  knowledge  and  a  familiar  acquaintance 
with  the  living  dramatists  of  that  period  in  England.  It 
is  not  our  purpose  to  connect  the  name  of  Courtland  with 
the  organization  of  this  company:  indeed,  such  a  thing 
would  be  almost  impossible,  inasmuch  as  the  association 
was  as  secret  as  were  the  names  of  its  members.  One 
thing,  however,  was  evident :  a  taste  for  dramatic  reading 


128  PENN'S  FIRST  POSTMASTER. 

soon  became  prevalent,  and  the  plays  of  Shakspeare  found 
favor  even  in  the  eyes  of  the  godly.  Young  Courtland, 
the  leader  of  "Society  Hill"  boys,  soon  inoculated  his 
companions  with  many  of  their  follies,  and  the  play- 
grounds about  the  Loxley  House  resounded  with  their 
shouts.  From  this  circle  came  forth  the  pioneers  of  our 
drama.  A  companion  of  Courtland's,  by  the  name  of 
Aitken,  was  the  first  to  propose  a  dramatic  association. 
The  name  of  Garrick  and  the  uprising  of  the  English 
drama  in  London  had  already  enlisted  many  here  in  its 
favor. 

The  place  of  meeting  for  the  early  pioneership  of  the 
drama  was  held  in  a  house  on  Second  Street  adjoining  the 
then  gardens  of  the  Loxley  House,  and  immediately  con- 
nected with  an  old  white  building,  recently  altered  into 
stores,  and  which  was  used  in  our  Revolutionary  War  as 
a  hospital.  The  front  portion  of  this  dramatic  temple 
was  used  as  a  boot  and  shoe  store ;  the  rear  was  occupied 
by  the  proprietor's  family,  and  the  range  of  rooms  over 
the  back  building  was  the  scene  of  the  drama's  birth.  It 
was  here  "  Richard  III.  "  was  enacted,  and  it  was  here  the 
few  plays  that  had  crossed  the  Atlantic  found  favor  in  the 
eyes  of  the  aspirants  for  histrionic  fame,  and  whose  dra- 
matic efforts  kindled  a  flame  in  many  a  youthful  breast, 
which  has  sent  its  light  down  through  the  mimic  world 
to  brighten  it  in  all  ages. 

A  great  sensation  was  created  by  this  theatrical  out- 
break, and  on  its  reaching  the  ears  of  the  Quakers,  they, 
with  others  opposed  to  such  "unlawful  proceedings  and 
profane  exhibitions,"  had  the  matter  brought  before  the 
council,  or,  rather,  the  recorder,  and  we  find  upon  his 
office-books,  bearing  date  January  8,  1749,  gravely  writ- 
ten, "  The  recorder  then  acquainted  the  board  that  certain 
persons  had  taken  upon  them  to  act  plays  in  this  city,  and, 
as  he  was  informed,  intended  to  make  a  frequent  practice 


PENN'S  FIRST  POSTMASTER.  129 

thereof,  which  it  was  feared  would  be  attended  with 
mischievous  effect,  such  as  the  encouraging  of  idleness, 
and  drawing  great  sums  of  money  from  weak  and  incon- 
siderate people,  who  are  apt  to  be  fond  of  such  kinds  of 
entertainments,  though  the  performance  be  ever  so  mean 
and  contemptible.  Whereupon  the  board  unanimously 
requested  the  magistrates  to  take  most  effectual  measures 
for  suppressing  this  disorder,  by  sending  for  the  actors 
and  binding  them  to  their  good  behavior,  or  by  such  other 
means  as  they  should  judge  most  proper.'7 

This  proceeding,  strange  as  it  may  seem,  produced  quite 
a  contrary  effect;  for  the  company,  which  was  now  regu- 
larly organized,  and  was  made  subservient  to  the  interests 
of  all  concerned,  actually  stepped  out  from  behind  the  law 
and  boldly  asked  permission  from  the  authorities  to  enact 
plays  in  some  more  public  place  other  than  the  obscure 
spot  they  had  selected.  Backed  by  the  aristocracy  of 
"Society  Hill,"  their  application  was  granted. 

What  aided  to  strengthen  this  company  and  give  it 
character  was  the  fact  of  several  members  of  a  West  India 
company  arriving  here,  who  immediately  joined  them;  and 
thus  Richard  III.,  Hamlet,  Beau  Stratagem,  &c.,  were 
played  in  a  manner  to  please  the  "million." 

The  Philadelphia  company  left  the  Quaker  City  at  the 
close  of  1749,  and  opened  a  temporary  theatre  in  a  wooden 
building  in  Nassau  Street,  New  York.  A  writer,  alluding 
to  this  company  and  the  early  history  of  the  drama,  says, 
"The  earliest  theatrical  performances,  in  the  recollection 
of  the  oldest  inhabitants,  were  in  a  store  on  Crugar's 
wharf,  near  Old  Slip,  by  a  company  of  Thespians,  corn- 
posed  of  'choice  spirits'  of  a  certain  order.  They  were 
roystering  young  men,  full  of  tricks  and  mischief,  who 
used  to  play  cricket  in  the  fields,  and  who  spent  their 
nights  at  the  Boat-House,  on  Broad  Street,  near  where  the 
United  States  Public  Stores  now  stand."  Our  readers 


130  PENN'S  FIRST  POSTMASTER. 

will  recognize  in  these  young  men  the  Thespian  company 
from  the  Quaker  City.  After  playing  here  with  some 
success,  the  company  left  for  Virginia. 

They  then  went  to  Williamsburg,  Virginia,  and,  al- 
though William  Dunlap  denies  the  fact  in  his  "  History 
of  the  American  Stage,"  yet  it  is  true  that  under  the 
presidency  of  Thomas  Lee  the  Philadelphia  company, 
strengthened  by  the  addition  made  to  it  in  New  York, 
obtained  permission  to  erect  a  theatre  in  Williamsburg, 
and  in  the  year  1750  it  was  begun  and  finished.  They 
played  here  in  1751.* 

Hallam  opened  at  this  very  theatre  on  the  5th  of  Sep- 
tember, 1752,  and  on  the  evening  of  July  13,  1752,  the 
Philadelphia  and  New  York  company  opened  their  second 
new  theatre  in  Annapolis,  and  performed  "The  Beau 
Stratagem"  and  the  farce  of  "The  Virgin  Unmasked:'7 
boxes,  10s.;  pit,  7s.  Qd.  Richard  III.  was  performed 
twice, — the  character  of  Richard  by  Mr.  Wynel,  and  that 
of  Richmond  by  Mr.  Herbert.  Mr.  Eyniason,  Mr.  Aitken, 
and  Mr.  Courtland  are  the  only  names  handed  down  to  us 
as  belonging  to  the  colonial  company. 

As  Hallam's  company  arrived  at  Yorktown  in  June, 
1752,  and  did  not  open  until  September  at  Williamsburg, 
there  is  no  doubt  that  a  portion  of  his  company  joined 
Eyniason  at  Annapolis  and  played  until  the  opening  at 
Williamsburg. 

The  first  play,  therefore,  acted  in  this  country  by  what 
may  be  termed  a  regular  company  (and  this  company 
was  composed  of  the  old  actors,  and  two  or  three  of 

*  On  very  meagre  authority  it  is  stated  that  there  was  a  "play-house" 
in  New  York  in  1733.  In  an  advertisement  in  "Bradford's  Gazette"  of 
that  period,  a  merchant  gives  his  place  of  business  as  being  "next  door 
to  the  play-house."  This  reference  is  all  that  has  been  found  respecting 
it.  What  kind  of  a  play-house  is  alluded  to  here  remains  a  secret  to 
those  who  take  an  interest  in  dramatic  reminiscences. 


PENN'S  FIRST  POSTMASTER.  131 

Hallam's,  viz.:  Wynel  and  Herbert)  was  "The  Beau 
Stratagem,"  and  the  farce  of  "The  Virgin  Unmasked." 
After  the  organization  of  Hallam's  company  the  members 
of  the  old  became  incorporated  with  it.  The  Annapolis 
theatre,  which  in  1752  was  called  the  New  Theatre,  was 
built  of  brick,  and  was  calculated  to  hold  over  five  hun- 
dred persons.  Dunlap  says  this  was  the  first  theatre  erected 
in  this  country,  not  being  advised  of  the  one  erected  in 
Williamsburg  in  1750.  In  justice,  however,  to  Dunlap, 
the  author  has  a  letter  from  the  veteran  of  the  drama 
within  a  short  time  before  his  death,  wherein  he  acknow- 
ledges his  error  and  does  justice  to  Burke  the  historian, 
and  admits  the  justice  of  our  correction  made  in  the  year 
1835. 

The  following  are  the  names  of  a  portion  of  the  com- 
pany who  played  in  the  "The  Beau  Stratagem:" — Mr. 
Eyniason,  Mr.  Bell,  Mr.  Miller,  Mr.  Love,  Mr.  Court- 
ney, Mr.  Aitken,  Mrs.  Love,  and  Mrs.  Becceley.  These 
we  have  every  reason  to  believe  were  of  the  old  com- 
pany. 

COPY  OF  THE  FIKST  PLAY-BILL  ISSUED  BY  THE  ENG- 
LISH COMPANY  AT  WILLIAMSBURG,  VIRGINIA,  SEP- 
TEMBER 5,  1752. 

THE   MERCHANT   OF  VENICE. 

Bassanio Mr.  Rigby 

Antonio Mr.  Clarkson. 

Gratiano Mr.  Singleton. 

Salanio  and  the  Duke Mr.  Herbert. 

Salarino  and  Gobbo Mr.  Wynel. 

Launcelot  and  Tubal Mr.  Hallam. 

Shylock Mr.  Malone. 

Servant  to  Portia Master  L.  Hallam. 

Portia Mrs.  Hallam. 

Jessica  (first  appearance  on  the  stage) Miss  Hallam. 

Nerissa , Miss  Palmer. 


132  PENN'S  FIRST  POSTMASTER. 

LETHE. 

./Esop Mr.  Clarkson. 

Old  Man Mr.  Malone. 

Fine  Gentleman Mr.  Singleton. 

Frenchman Mr.  Rigby. 

Charon Mr.  Herbert. 

Mercury Mr.  Adcock. 

Drunken  Man  and  Tattoo Mr.  Hallam. 

John Mr.  Wynel. 

Mrs.  Tattoo Miss  Palmer. 

Fine  Lady Mrs.  Hallam. 

The  above  cast  includes  in  the  bill  the  names  of  all  who 
composed  the  company,  with  the  exception  of  Mrs.  Clark- 
son,  Mrs.  Rigby,  and  Adam  Hallam,  a  child. 

After  playing  here  for  a  while  under  circumstances  by 
no  means  pleasing,  the  manager  cast  his  eyes  to  the  prin- 
cipal cities  of  the  country,  and  selected  New  York  as  the 
first  step  towards  the  establishing  of  the  drama  among  the 
elite.  At  that  period  the  first  families  in  Virginia  had  not 
assumed  that  prerogative.  Hallam  opened  his  first  place 
of  amusement  in  the  city  of  New  York  on  the  17th  day 
of  September,  1753,  with  "Conscious  Lovers,"  and  "Da- 
mon and  Phillida."  The  site  was  originally  occupied  by 
the  old  Dutch  Church  on  Nassau  Street.  As  a  matter  of 
history,  as  well  as  of  curiosity,  we  append  the  opening 
bill:— 

BY   HIS   EXCELLENCY'S  AUTHORITY. 

By  a  company  of  comedians  from  London,  at  the  New  Theatre  in  Nassau 
Street,  the  present  evening,  being  the  I7th  of  September  (1753),  will  be 
performed  a  comedy  called 

THE   CONSCIOUS   LOVERS. 

Young  Bevel Mr!  Rigby. 

Mr.  Sealand Mr.  Malone. 

Sir  John  Bevel Mr.  Bell. 

Myrtle Mr.  Clarkson. 

Cimberton Mr.  Miller. 

Humphry Mr.  Adcock. 

Daniel Master  L.  Hallam. 


THE  PHILADELPHIA  STAGE.  133 

Tom Mr.  Singleton. 

Phillis Mrs.  Becceley. 

Mrs.  Sealand Mrs.  Clarkson. 

Lucinda Miss  Hallam. 

Isabella Mrs.  Rigby. 

Indiana ...Mrs.  Hallam. 

To  which  will  be  added  the  Ballet  Farce  of 

DAMON  AND  PHILLIDA. 

Areas Mr.  Bell. 

Ogon Mr.  Rigby. 

Korydon Mr.  Clarkson. 

Cymon -. Mr.  Miller. 

Damon... .„ Mr.  Adcock. 

Phillida Mrs.  Becceley. 

A  new  occasional  prologue  to  be  spoken  by  Mr.  Rigby. 
An  epilogue  (addressed  to  the  ladies)  by  Mrs.  Hallam. 
Prices. — Box,  85.5   Pit,  6s. ;   Gallery,  35. 
No  person  whatever  to  be  admitted  behind  the  scenes. 

N.  B. — Gentlemen  and  ladies  that  choose  tickets  may  have  them  at  the 
new  printing-office  in  Beaver  Street. 
To  begin  at  six  o'clock. 

The  days  of  performance,  Mondays,  Wednesdays,  and 
Fridays,  and  continued  so  for  half  a  century. 

The  city  of  Philadelphia  was  the  next  move  by  this 
company  on  the  checker-board  of  the  mimic  world. 

THE  PHILADELPHIA  /STAGE. 

The  Nassau  Street,  New  York,  closed  on  the  18th  of 
March,  1754,  and  Hallam  accepted  a  pressing  invitation 
from  a  number  of  gentlemen  in  Philadelphia,  and  opened 
on  the  15th  of  April,  1754,  in  a  sail-loft  or  warehouse 
belonging  to  William  Plumstead,  Esq.,*  situated  in  Water 
Street,  southeast  corner  of  the  first  alley  above  Pine.  This 
building  extended  to  the  wharf.  This  was  certainly  a 
most  curious  locality:  yet  at  that  period  the  neighborhood 
of  its  site  was  almost  aristocratical,  for  "Society  Hill," 

*  This  gentleman  was  mayor  of  the  city  in  the  years  1750  and  1755. 

12 


UNIVERSITY 


134  THE  PHILADELPHIA  STAGE. 

extending  all  along  Front  Street  to  Almond,  was  the 
theatre  of  as  much  fashionable  parade  and  display  as 
Chestnut  Street  is  now.  There  stood  at  that  period  several 
finely-built  houses,  and  its  proximity  to  the  "Loxley 
House"  and  "White  Hall"  gave  it  a  character  it  certainly 
could  not  claim  at  the  present  day :  we  mean,  of  course, 
for  its  locality  as  a  theatre.  There  is  also  another,  and 
perhaps  a  paramount  one;  and  that  is,  it  was  the  only 
place  they  could  get.  It  was  here,  on  this  lone  spot,  the 
first  regular  company  of  comedians  opened  their  Philadel- 
phia campaign.  The  play  was  the  "Fair  Penitent,"  and 
"Miss  in  her  Teens." 

We  present  the  cast  of  the  tragedy : — 

Sciotto Mr.  Malone. 

Horatio Mr.  Rigby. 

Lothario Mr.  Singleton. 

Altamont Mr.  Clarkson. 

Catista Mrs.  Hallam. 

Lavinia Mrs.  Adcock. 

Sucetta Miss  Hallam. 

Prices  of  admission. — Box,  4$.  j  Gallery,  "is.  6d. 

Having  given  an  account  of  the  first  theatrical  exhibi- 
tion given  in  this  city,  and  the  site  of  the  first  theatre,  we 
come  now  to  the  second,  which  may,  in  fact,  be  termed  the 
first  erected  for  legitimate  purposes.  The  company  con- 
tinued to  play  at  Plumstead's  warehouse,  gaining  favor 
gradually  with  the  public,  until  June,  having  remained 
open  two  months,  and  playing  to  crowded  houses.  On 
the  17th  of  June  they  played  "The  Careless  Husband" 
by  particular  request,  the  proceeds  of  which  were  appro- 
priated to  the  poor  of  the  city.  It  is  a  curious  fact  in  the 
history  of  the  drama,  and  one  which  reflects  but  little 
credit  upon  its  opponents,  that  in  almost  every  case  of 
opposition  the  belligerent  parties  were  bought  over  by 
money,  and  even  this  came  into  their  hands  as  donations  to 


THE  PHILADELPHIA  STAGE.  135 

the  poor ;  but  whether  the  poor  ever  received  a  penny  of 
it  is  a  matter  time  and  eternity  have  already  reconciled. 
Even  at  the  present  day  there  are  classes  of  men  whose 
opinion  of  actors  and  theatres  would  undergo  a  material 
change  if  a  portion  of  the  proceeds  of  the  theatrical  repre- 
sentations were  poured  into  their  laps,  and  used,  as  the 
phrase  goes,  for  the  poor. 

In  the  year  1759  David  Douglas  opened  the  second 
theatre  in  Philadelphia.  This  building  stood  at  the  south- 
west corner  of  South  and  Yernon  Streets.  It  was  built 
entirely  of  wood,  weather-boarded  and  painted  a  dark  lead- 
color.  It  was  a  large  building,  and  calculated  to  hold  a 
thousand  persons.  Douglas  had  succeeded  to  the  throne 
of  the  "mimic  world"  in  consequence  of  the  death  of  Mr. 
Hallam,  whose  widow  he  married.  Douglas  was  a  man 
.of  enterprise,  and  ambitious  to  establish  the  regular  drama 
in  the  Western  World.  In  the  pursuit  of  this  object  he 
at  once  determined  to  erect  temples  to  the  histrionic 
muses  which  in  after-years  would  lead  to  the  establish- 
ing of  others,  whose  classic  beauty  and  architectural 
design  might  emulate  the  proudest  edifices  of  the  land 
and  find  their  model  in  Roman  superstructure.  In  doing 
this,  he  had  to  contend  against  the  prejudices  of  the  people, 
and  select  such  plays  as  were  calculated  to  disarm  op- 
position and  enlist  the  liberal  in  his  favor.  Thus,  he 
opened  the  old  South  Street  Theatre  with  the  tragedy  of 
"Douglass,"  written,  as  was  stated  in  the  bills,  by  Mr. 
Home,  minister  of  the  Kirk  of  Scotland.  This  was  fol- 
lowed by  "  Hamlet,"  which  play,  it  was  said,  furnished  a 
moral  lesson  for  youth  and  the  regulation  of  their  conduct 
through  life.  On  the  27th  of  December  a  benefit  was 
given  towards  raising  a  fund  for  "purchasing  an  organ  to 
the  college  hall  in  this  city,  and  instructing  the  charity 
children  in  psalmody."* 

*  The  play  on  this  occasion  was  "George  Barnwell." 


136  THE  PHILADELPHIA  STAGE. 

On  the  following  evening  "Hamlet"  was  played  for 
the  benefit  of  the  Pennsylvania  Hospital,  and  the  theatre 
closed  for  the  season.  The  members  of  the  company — at 
least  the  chief  portion — were  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Douglas,  Miss 
Cheer,  Mrs.  Morris,*  Mrs.  Crane,  Mrs.  Allyn,  and  Miss 
Hallam.  In  addition  to  the  company  which  we  have 
already  mentioned  in  another  chapter,  we  find  the  names 
of  Quelch,  Tomlinson,  Stuart,  Tremaine,  Reed,  and  Morris. 

Francis  Mentges,  afterwards  an  officer  in  our  service, 
was  the  dancing  performer.  While  he  danced  he  assumed 
the  name  of  Francis.  Miss  Cheer  was  the  Lady  Macbeth 
of  the  day,  and  Morris,  the  husband  of  the  lady  whose 
unfortunate  fate  we  have  stated,  was  the  low  comedian : 
his  name  is  to  be  found  in  various  companies,  enacting  old 
men,  up  to  as  late  a  period  as  1800.  Dunlap  says,  "Those 
that  can  look  back  to  1788  will  remember  him  as  a  little, 
shrivelled  old  man,  with  a  voice  palsied  with  age,  having 
for  his  second  wife  a  tall,  elegant  woman,  the  favorite 
comedy  lady,  and  the  admiration  of  the  public." 

The  Presbyterian  Synod,  in  July,  1759,  formally  ad- 
dressed the  governor  and  legislature  to  prevent  the  opening. 
The  Friends  made  their  application  to  Judge  William 
Allen  to  suppress  the  representations.  His  reply  was 
that  "  he  had  got  more  moral  virtue  from  plays  than  he 
had  from  sermons."  As  a  sequel,  it  was  long  remembered 
and  spoken  of,  that  the  night  the  theatre  opened,  and  on 
which  he  intended  to  visit,  he  was  called  to  mourn  the 
death  of  his  wife!  The  motto  over  the  stage  was : — 

Totus  mundis  agit  histrionem. 

There  are  many  persons  who  confound  this  with  the 
third  theatre,  erected  by  Douglas.  That  no  further  doubt 

*  This  lady  was  drowned,  together  with  her  maid-servant,  in  the 
winter  of  1767. 


THE  PHILADELPHIA  STAGE.  137 

may  exist  upon  its  site,  three  brick  buildings  are  situated, 
as  stated,  at  the  southwest  corner  of  South  and  Vernon 
Streets. 

Society  Hill,  which  extended  from  Spruce  Street  (gradu- 
ally rising,  having  its  summit  on  Pine  Street)  to  the 
Swedes'  Church,  was  the  fashionable  portion  of  the  city. 
At  that  period  they  had  "  Cherry  Garden"  on  Society 
Hill;  the  "Friends'  Meeting-House,"  the  "theatre," 
"  George  Wells's  place."  They  had  also  a  flag-staff  erected 
on  Society  Hill,  under  which  Whitefield  preached.  This 
staff  stood  at  the  corner  of  Pine  and  Front  Streets.  Alder- 
man Plumstead's  garden  was  situated  in  Union  Street, 
and  it  was  the  admiration  of  the  town. 

In  the  year  1724  a  slack-  and  tight-rope  exhibition  was 
given  by  a  company  of  men  and  women,  at  the  corner  of 
South  and  Front  Streets.  They  continued  their  antics  for 
twenty  nights  to  gaping  crowds.  This  was  the  first  exhi- 
bition of  the  kind  ever  given  in  the  city. 

Douglas,  finding  the  more  respectable  portion  of  the 
community  disposed  to  encourage  theatricals,  selected  a 
more  eligible  site  for  the  building  of  another  theatre, 
and  for  that  purpose  fixed  on  a  vacant  lot  situated  at  the 
southwest  corner  of  South  and  Apollo  Streets,  above 
Fourth :  hence  the  error  of  many  historians  who  confound 
this  with  the  one  at  the  corner  of  Vernon  Street.  This 
theatre  was  erected  in  1760.  Little  attention  was  paid 
to  design  in  the  building.  The  view  from  the  boxes  was 
intercepted  by  large  pillars  supporting  the  upper  tier 
and  roof.  It  was  lighted  by  plain  oil  lamps,  without 
glasses,  a  row  of  which  was  placed  in  front  of  the  stage. 
The  scenery  was  dingy, — chamber-scenes  taken  from  descrip- 
tions of  old  castles ;  and  altogether  the  whole  presented  a 
dark  and  sombre  appearance.  The  stage-box  on  the  east 
side  in  after-years  was  fitted  up  for  President  Washington, 
whenever  he  honored  the  theatre  with  his  presence,  at 

12*- 


138  THE  PHILADELPHIA  STAGE.   ' 

which  time  "The  Poor  Soldier"  was  played  by  "de- 
sire." 

Much  was  written  and  published  at  this  time  against 
the  immoral  tendency  of  the  stage;  and  a  cursory  glance 
at  the  public  papers  would  lead  to  a  belief  that  the  intro- 
duction of  stage-plays  was  deprecated  as  being  a  greater 
evil  than  pestilence  and  famine.  The  fathers  of  the  Church 
were  quoted  most  appositely  on  the  occasion,  and  the  poor 
players  were  near  being  confounded  with  the  weight  of 
authority  against  them ;  for,  unfortunately,  they  could  not 
"  quote  Scripture  for  their  purpose."  Occasionally  some 
one  was  bold  enough  to  raise  his  voice  in  their  defence, 
but  it  was  heard  as  the  small  note  of  the  oaten  reed 
amidst  the  braying  of  the  warlike  trumpet.  More,  how- 
ever, is  effected  by  steady  perseverance  than  by  violent 
measures.  The  players  pursued  the  "  even  tenor  of  their 
way,"  and  as  the  mass  of  the  people  did  not  foresee  the 
evil  consequences  which  the  more  enlightened  apprehended, 
they  attracted  full  audiences,  which  kept  up  their  spirits 
in  spite  of  the  paper  bulls  incessantly  issued  against 
them. 

We  have  here  to  correct  an  error  of  Mr.  J.  F.  Watson 
in  his  celebrated  "  Annals  of  Philadelphia."  In  doing  so, 
the  writer  of  this  would  merely  remark  that  this  error  of 
Watson's  evidently  arises  from  his  distaste  to  the  subject 
of  theatres ;  for  had  he  exercised  a '  twentieth  part  of  his 
usual  judgment  in  tracing  past  occurrences,  incidents,  &c., 
this  would  not  have  occurred.  Page  471,  first  volume  of 
Watson's  Annals,  we  find  this  paragraph: — "In  1760  a 
large  building,  constructed  of  wood,  situated  in  South 
Street  above  Fourth  Street,  was  opened,"  &c.  &c.  "  The 
managers  were  Hallam  &  Henry." 

Mr.  John  Henry,  the  partner  of  Hallam  in  after-years, 
arrived  in  New  York  from  England  in  1767,  and  made 
his  first  appearance  at  the  John  Street  Theatre,  New 


POST  TENEBRAS  LUX.  139 

York,  December  7  of  that  year.  The  company  was  still 
Douglas's. 

Mr.  Wemyss,  in  his  Chronology  of  the  American  Stage, 
says  that  the  John  Street  Theatre  opened  December  7, 
1767,  under  the  management  of  Hallam  &  Henry,  and  in 
the  same  book  announces  his  first  appearance  in  America, 
on  that  very  evening,  as  Aimwell  in  The  Beau  Stratagem. 
Hallam  &  Henry  did  not  form  a  partnership  until  the 
21st  of  November,  1784.  Douglas  having  gone  to  Jamaica, 
where  he  received  a  judgeship  under  the  British  crown, 
he  relinquished  the  sceptre  of  the  American  company  to 
Hallam,  his  step-son,  who  took  for  his  partner  John  Henry, 
How  our  friend  Wemyss  could  fall  into  so  gross  an  error 
is  entirely  beyond  our  comprehension.  The  South  Street 
Theatre  opened  under  Hallam  &  Henry's  management  in 
1786. 

The  members  of  the  old  South  Street  company,  in  1761, 
consisted  of  Messrs.  Douglas,  Hallam,  Allyn,  Morris, 
Quelch,  Tomlinson,  Street,  Reed,  Tremaine,  and  Master 
A.  Hallam,  Mesdames  Douglas,  Morris,  Crane,  Allyn, 
and  Miss  Hallam. 

To  the  antiquarian  the  subject  of  our  drama  and  stage 
would  afford  a  wide  range  for  the  display  of  his  genius  in 
that  line,  as  they  embrace  the  very  "Memoires  pour  Servir" 
for  a  volume. 

"POST  TENEBRAS  LUX." 

"After  darkness  comes  light." 

We  have  referred  to  these  reminiscences  of  the  olden 
time  simply  to  contrast  the  past  with  the  present ;  for  in 
tracing  up  the  progress  of  any  one  institution  connected 
with  the  government,  it  necessarily  follows  that  every 
thing  else  must  have  a  corresponding  progressive  interest. 
Reminiscences,  however,  are  but  retrogressive  shadows 
that  come  over  us  in  their  gloom,  as  they  conjure  up  the 


140  POST  TENEBRAS  LUX. 

spirits  of  those  who  have  long  since  passed  away  from  the 
earth,  as  have  all  those  scenes  which  the  "Old  Mortalities" 
of  the  present  take  delight  in  repainting.  "  Passing  Away" 
is  but  the  result  of  the  onward  march  of  Time : — 

''Still  he  goes, 

And  goes,  and  goes,  and  doth  not  pass  away ; 
He  rises  with  the  golden  morning,  calmly, 
And  with  the  moon  at  night.     Methinks  I  see 
Him  stretching  wide  his  mighty  wings, 
Floating  forever  o'er  the  crowds  of  men, 
Like  a  huge  vulture  with  its  prey  beneath." 

In  1753,  on  the  death  of  the  postmaster-general  for 
America,  Benjamin  Franklin  and  Colonel  William  Hunter, 
of  Virginia,  by  a  joint  commission  from  the  English  post- 
master-general, were  appointed  to  succeed  him.  The  two 
American  deputies  were  to  have  .£600  per  annum  between 
them,  provided  they  could  raise  the  sum  from  the  net 
proceeds  of  their  office.  The  colonial  post-office  receipts 
had  never  been  sufficient  to  pay  a  shilling  of  revenue  into 
the  English  treasury;  and  to  render  them  productive 
enough  to  yield  the  compensation  mentioned,  various 
reforms  were  necessary,  and  Franklin  immediately  set 
about  introducing  them.  In  the  summer  of  1753  he 
started  out  on  a  tour  of  inspection,  and  visited  every  post- 
office  in  the  colony,  except  that  of  Charleston,  infusing 
new  vigor  into  the  service,  and  putting  the  whole  upon 
an  improved  footing. 

After  four  years'  „ almost  unremitting  attention  to  the 
postal  service,  the  new  system  began  to  tell,  and  the  results 
were  that  the  receipts  soon  yielded  the  salary  of  the  post- 
master, and  considerably  increased  the  revenue  of  the 
government.  As  he  himself  stated,  it  "yielded  three  times 
as  much  clear  profit  to  the  crown  as  the  post-office  of 
Ireland  did." 

As  the  modern  postal  system  was  based  in  part  upon 


POST  TENEBRA&  LUX.  141 

that  of  Charles  II. '&  time,  much  of  it  remains  to  this  day ; 
but  the  vast  improvements  made  give  to  the  original 
plan  what  can  be  better  expressed  in  the  language  of  the 
Emperor  Augustus:  "I  found  Rome  all  brick,  and  left 
it  all  marble."  Thus  the  postal  department,  then  in  a 
debris  state  of  chaotic  confusion,  presents  at  the  present 
time  an  institution  wherein  order  and  system  reign 
supreme. 

Franklin  made  every  department  pay.  The  carrying  of 
newspapers  was  made  a  source  of  revenue :  previous  to 
his  administration  they  had  been  carried  free.  He  charged 
each  subscriber  who  received  a  newspaper  by  mail  nine 
pence  a  year  for  fifty  miles,  and  eighteen  pence  a  year  for 
one  hundred  miles.  Post-riders  received  orders  to  take 
all  newspapers  offered,  instead  of  only  those  issued  by  a 
postmaster.  Franklin  himself  being  both  postmaster  and 
newspaper  publisher,  this  action  on  his  part  was  considered 
worthy  the  man  and  his  position.  The  speed  of  the  post- 
riders  was  accelerated  by  his  energy,  and  their  number 
increased  to  meet  the  public  demand. 

In  1753  the  delivery  of  letters  by  the  penny  post  was 
first  begun,  and  at  the  same  time  letters  were  regularly 
advertised.  Letters  from  all  the  neighboring  counties 
were  sent  to  Philadelphia,  and  lay  there  until  called  for. 

Our  readers  can  form  some  idea  of  the  mode  of  travelling 
between  cities,  when  we  state  that  Franklin  improved  on 
the  old  system  by  'starting  a  mail  from  Philadelphia,  to 
run  three  times  a  week  in  summer,  to  New  York  and 
Boston,  and  once  a  week  in  winter.  To  get  an  answer 
from  Boston  a  Philadelphian  had  been  obliged  to  wait 
six  weeks.  Franklin  reduced  the  time  to  three.  The 
rates  of  postage  were  also  materially  reduced.  The  rate 
across  the  ocean  was  fixed  at  one  shilling,  and,  strange  as 
it  may  seem,  it  has  not  changed  since,  although  one  hundred 
years  have  elapsed. 


142  POST  TENEBRAS  LUX. 

Most  of  the  post-roads  then  were  mere  bridle-paths 
through  forests.  "Even/7  says  a  writer,  "  between  Amboy 
and  Trenton,  the  very  road  along  which  Franklin  the 
runaway  apprentice  had  wearily  trudged  in  the  rain  in 
1723,  had  as  late  as  1775  a  stake  set  up  every  two  miles 
to  keep  the  traveller  from  going  astray." 

In  1765  Mrs.  Franklin,  writing  to  her  husband,  then  in 
England,  says,  "  The  Southern  mail  has  not  come  in,  nor 
has  the  Virginia  mail,  for  more  than  two  months."  Little 
intercourse  at  that  period.  The  name  of  Franklin  in 
connection  with  science,  and  his  being  deputy  postmaster- 
general,  was  not  only  a  household  word  from  Boston  to 
Charleston,  but  was  also  extensively  known  in  Europe. 
Only  two  American  names  were  then  familiar  to  the  Old 
World, — Jonathan  Edwards  in  the  religious  world,  and 
Benjamin  Franklin  in  the  circle  of  science.  Jonathan 
Edwards  was  born  at  Windsor,  in  the  province  of  Con- 
necticut, in  1703.  He  graduated  at  Yale  College,  and 
afterwards  was  a  tutor  in  the  establishment.  He  was 
ordained  in  the  ministry  in  1727.  His  chief  works  are  a 
"  Treatise  on  the  Religious  Affections,"  "  An  Enquiry  into 
the  Notion  of  Freedom  of  Will,"  "A  Treatise  on  Original 
Sin,"  "  Religious  Narratives,"  &c. 

In  1756  an  attempt  was  made,  instigated  by  some  po- 
litical enemies,  to  induce  the  postmaster-general  to  remove 
Franklin  from  office,  as  being  a  "factious  and  trouble- 
some man."  As  the  cause  assigned  was  so  trifling,  the 
postmaster-general  sent  his  "deputy"  a  letter  of  repri- 
mand, or  rather  one  of  gentle  reproof.  So  the  matter 
ended. 

A  copy  of  the  "Gazette"  bearing  date  1747  is  in  the 
possession  of  a  gentleman  of  this  city.  Published  by  B. 
Franklin,  Postmaster,  and  D.  Hall.  All  post-office  no- 
tices and  letters  remaining  in  the  post-office  were  pub- 
lished in  the  "Gazette." 


POST  TENEBRAS  LUX.  143 

In  1774  Benjamin  Franklin  was  very  summarily  dis- 
missed from  the  office  of  postmaster.  The  letter  from 
the  postmaster-general  stated  simply  "that  the  king  had 
found  it  necessary  to  dismiss  him  from  the  office  of 
deputy  postmaster-general  of  America." 

It  is  not  necessary  for  us  to  give  the  readers  the  reasons 
for  this  act,  as  the  history  of  Franklin  in  connection  with 
the  events  preceding  the  Revolution  will  fully  explain 
them.  The  colonies  were  in  a  state  of  incipient  revolution. 

The  course  pursued  by  the  British  Government  was 
such  that,  under  the  excitement  arising  from  its  acts,  the 
colonies  declared  themselves  constitutionally  exempt  from 
all  obedience  to  the  measures  of  the  British  Parliament, 
and  that  the  government  of  the  provinces  was  in  fact 
dissolved. 

Thus,  the  Congress  held  in  Philadelphia  on  the  5th  of 
September,  1774,  will  ever  be  remembered  and  celebrated 
in  the  annals  of  history  as  the  first  page  dedicated  to 
liberty.  It  was  a  congress  of  men  who  met  to  decide  the 
question  whether  one  man  had  the  power  and  the  right 
to  rule  the  million,  or  the  million  the  right  to  govern 
themselves.  The  success  of  our  Revolution  decided  the 
question;  and  counter-rebellions  and  revolutions  can 
never  change  that  base,  upon  which  is  erected  Liberty's 
throne. 

Franklin  arrived  in  Philadelphia,  from  England,  on 
the  evening  of  May  5,  1775,  and  the  very  next  day  the 
Assembly  of  Pennsylvania,  then  in  session,  appointed  him 
a  delegate  to  the  Second  Continental  Congress,  which  was 
to  convene  in  Philadelphia  four  days  after.  The  people 
of  America  had  everywhere  become  exasperated  beyond 
all  further  forbearance.  The  blood  of  their  countrymen 
had  been  wantonly  shed  by  British  troops,  at  Lexington 
and  Concord,  in  April;  and  the  call  to  arms  was  now 
ringing  through  the  land. 


144  POST  TENEBRAS  LUX. 

The  second  Congress,  held  May  10,  1775,  was  remark- 
able for  its  action  at  a  moment  when  liberty  was  as  a 
"waif"  in  the  political  world,  liable  at  every  breeze  to  be 
lost  in  the  vortex  of  its  revolutions.  It  set  the  seal  on 
British  rule  in  the  colonies  forever!  It  was  the  first 
move  morally  and  physically  made  against  tyranny  and 
usurpation,  and  was  only  surpassed  by  that  which  inau- 
gurated the  Fourth  of  July,  1776,  as  the  birthday  of 
freedom ! 

One  of  the  acts  of  its  members  was  to  adopt  the 
armies  of  New  England,  and  elect  General  George  Wash- 
ington commander-in-chief,  and  also  to  adopt  a  platform 
which  made  colonial  resistance,  to  use  a  modern  term,  "a 
military  necessity." 

Another  of  their  measures  was  to  correct  the  postal 
department,  which  during  Franklin's  absence  had  been 
somewhat  neglected.  A  committee  was  appointed,  of 
which  Franklin  was  made  chairman,  to  consider  the  best 
means  of  establishing  posts  for  the  conveyance  of  letters 
and  intelligence  throughout  the  country.  Franklin  was 
at  home  in  this  employment,  having  served  a  long  ap- 
prenticeship and  studied  its  workings  both  theoretically 
and  practically.  He  drew  up  a  plan  for  the  purpose,  and 
laid  it  before  the  committee,  who  approved  of  it  at  once ; 
and  it  was  eventually  the  same  as  that  upon  which  the 
post-office  of  America  is  now  conducted. 

The  committee  recommended  that  a  postmaster-general 
be  appointed  for  the  UNITED  STATES,  who  should  hold 
his  office  at  Philadelphia,  and  be  allowed  a  salary  of  one 
thousand  dollars  for  himself,  and  three  hundred  and  forty 
dollars  per  annum  for  a  secretary  and  controller,  "with 
power  to  appoint  such  and  so  many  deputies  as  to  him 
may  seem  proper  and  necessary;"  that  a  line  of  posts 
should  be  appointed,  under  the  direction  of  the  post- 
master-general, from  Falmouth,  in  New  England,  to 


POST  TENEBRAS  LUX.  145 

Savannah,  in  Georgia,  "with  as  many  cross-posts  as  he 
shall  think  fit;  that  the  allowance  of  the  deputies  in 
lieu  of  salary  ancf  all  contingent  expenses  shall  be 
twenty  per  cent,  on  the  sums  they  collect  and  pay  into 
the  general  post-office,  annually,  when  the  whole  is  under, 
or  not  exceeding,  one  thousand  dollars,  and  ten  per 
cent,  for  all  sums  above  that  amount  a  year;  that  the 
several  departments  account  quarterly  with  the  general  post- 
office,  and  the  postmaster-general  annually  with  the  Con- 
tinental treasurers,  when  he  shall  pay  into  the  receipt  of 
the  said  treasurers  the  profits  of  the  post-office,  and  if  the 
necessary  expenses  of  this  establishment  should  exceed  the 
produce  of  it,  the  deficiency  shall  be  made  good  by  the 
United  Colonies,  and  paid  to  the  postmaster-general  by 
the  Continental  treasurers." 

This  plan,  and  resolutions  accompanying  it,  were  sub- 
mitted to  Congress,  who  adopted  it,  and,  taking  into 
consideration  the  interest  Franklin  had  always  taken  in 
the  department,  and  also  his  summary  dismissal  under 
the  "British  dynasty,"  unanimously  elected  Benjamin 
Franklin,  Esq.,  postmaster-general  for  one  year,  and  until 
another  Congress  assembled.  Eighteen  months  had  passed 
since  his  dismissal,  when  he  now  found  himself  reinstated 
in  office  with  higher  rank  and  augmented  authority. 
Nay,  more :  he  was  postmaster-general  under  a  new  ruling 
power, — a  power  that  was  uprising  like  the  glorious  sun 
from  the  mists  and  the  gloom  of  a  long,  dreary  night  of 
wrong  and  oppression.  It  was  now  the  dawn  of  a  new 
era  in  the  history  of  men  and  of  nations.  It  was  the  dawn 
of  freedom  I 

The  people  made  a  law;  and  as  there  cannot  be  ra- 
tional freedom  where  there  are  arbitrary  restraints,  they 
adopted  Cicero's  maxim,  and  proclaimed  liberty  as  the 
law  of  the  land  : — 

"  Libertas  est  potestas  faciendi  id  quod  jure  liceat." 

13 


146  POST  TENEBRAS  LUX. 

One  of  the  strongest  tests  by  which  the  progressive 
prosperity  of  a  country  may  be  ascertained  is  that  of  its 
postal  department.  It  forms  a  chain  which  links  together 
all  private  and  public  interests;  it  links  state  to  state, 
countries  to  countries,  nations  to  nations.  It  is  the 
alphabet  of  the  world ! 

Benjamin  Franklin  appointed  Richard  Bache,  his  son- 
in-law,  deputy  postmaster.  They  established  mail-riders 
to  carry  the  mails,  and  stationed  them  at  distances  of  twenty- 
five  miles,  to  deliver  from  one  to  the  other  and  return  to 
their  starting-places:  they  travelled  night  and  day,  and 
were  men  selected  for  their  honesty  and  sobriety. 

At  the  same  time  it  was  ordered  that  three  advice-boats 
should  be  established,  "one  to  ply  between  North  Caro- 
lina and  such  ports  as  shall  be  most  convenient  to  the 
place  where  Congress  shall  be  sitting,"  one  other  between 
the  State  of  Georgia  and  the  same  port.  The  boats  to 
be  armed,  and  to  be  freighted  by  individuals  for  the  sake 
of  diminishing  the  public  expense. 

The  state  of  the  country  was  such  that  it  became  neces- 
sary to  enlist  the  services  of  the  most  prominent  men  in 
its  cause,  both  at  home  and  abroad ;  and  who  so  popular 
then  as  Benjamin  Franklin  ?  A  writer  speaking  of  him 
and  the  period  says,  "With  a  fame  unequalled  in  bril- 
liancy by  that  of  any  other  man  of  those  times,  not  only 
as  a  philosopher  and  sage,  but  as  a  profound  political 
thinker,  and  an  undaunted  asserter  of  the  rights  and 
liberties  of  his  country,  Franklin's  name  was  now  fami- 
liarly known  and  revered  throughout  all  Europe." 

Is  it  to  be  wondered  at,  therefore,  that  he  should  have 
been  appointed  one  of  the  commissioners  to  France  ?  The 
commissioners  first  appointed  for  this  purpose,  on  the 
26th  of  September,  1776,  were  Franklin,  Silas  Dean, 
and  Thomas  Jefferson.  The  last,  however,  declined,  and 
Arthur  Lee,  of  Virginia,  was  put  in  his  place.  Mr,  Lee 


POST  TENEBRAS  LUX.  147 

and  Mr.  Dean  were  both  in  Europe,  the  former  having 
been  employed  several  years  in  England  as  a  colonial 
agent,  and  the  latter  having  been  sent  out  in  the  pre- 
ceding March  by  the  committee  of  secret  correspondence, 
with  a  view  to  diplomatic  as  well  as  commercial  objects ; 
and  Franklin,  after  a  boisterous  voyage  in  the  United 
States  sloop-of-war  Reprisal,  Captain  Wickes,  and  after 
escaping  from  the  guns  of  several  British  cruisers,  met 
them  in  Paris  in  the  latter  part  of  December,  1776. 
This  portion  of  history  is  familiar  to  all. 

In  the  absence  of  Franklin,  Richard  Bache  attended  to 
the  post-office  business,  and  in  all  respects  carried  out  his 
father-in-law's  plans. 

In  March,  1777,  Franklin  received  from  Congress  a 
commission  as  minister  to  Spain. 

After  residing  in  Europe  nearly  nine  years,  acting  in 
the  capacities  named,  he  returned  to  America,  and  arrived 
in  Philadelphia  on  the  14th  of  September,  1785.  His 
return  was  greeted  with  every  mark  of  personal  regard 
and  public  respect. 

We  will  close  this  portion  of  our  postal  history,  and 
Franklin's  connection  with  it,  by  the  following  letter, 
which  he  wrote  to  Mr.  Thomson  shortly  after  his  return 
home.  It  is  to  be  regretted  that  it  is  a  finale  which  re- 
flects but  little  credit  on  our  government  at  that  time, 
and  gives  occasion  for  our  opponents  to  repeat  the  old 
saying  that  "republics  are  ungrateful."  Nor  is  Frank- 
lin's case  an  isolated  one. 

Franklin,  speaking  of  unrequited  services  to  his  friend, 
says, — 

"I  see  by  the  minutes,"  speaking  of  Congress,  "that 
they  have  allowed  Mr.  Lee  handsomely  for  his  services  in 
England  before  his  appointment  to  France,  in  which  ser- 
vices I  and  Mr.  Bollan  co-operated  with  him,  and  have 
had  no  such  allowance,  and  since  his  return  he  has  been 


148  POST  TENEBRAS  LUX. 

very  properly  rewarded  with  a  good  place,  as  well  as  my 
friend  Mr.  Jay, — though  these  are  trifling  compensations 
in  comparison  with  what  was  granted  by  the  king  to  Mr. 
Gerard  on  his  return  to  America.  But  how  different  is 
what  happened  to  me !  On  my  return  from  England,  in 
1775,  the  Congress  bestowed  on  me  the  office  of  post- 
master-general, for  which  I  was  very  thankful.  It  was, 
indeed,  an  office  I  had  some  kind  of  right  to,  as  having 
previously  greatly  enlarged  the  revenue  of  the  post  by 
the  regulations  I  had  contrived  and  established  while  I 
possessed  it  under  the  crown.  When  I  was  sent  to  France, 
I  left  it  in  the  hands  of  my  son-in-law,  who  was  to  act  as 
my  deputy.  But  soon  after  my  departure  it  was  taken 
from  him  and  given  to  Mr.  Hazzard.  When  the  English 
ministry  thought  fit  to  deprive  me  of  the  office  (that  of 
postmaster),  they  left  me,  however,  the  privilege  of  re- 
ceiving and  sending  my  letters  free  of  postage,  which  is 
the  usage  when  a  postmaster  is  not  displaced  for  miscon- 
duct in  the  office ;  but  in  America  I  have  ever  since  had 
the  postage  demanded  of  me,  which  since  my  return  from 
France  has  amounted  to  about  fifty  pounds,  much  of  it 
occasioned  by  my  having  acted  as  minister  there." 

There  are  so  many  incidents  connected  with  Benjamin 
Franklin — incidents  associated  alike  with  our  country's 
history,  its  literature,  art,  and  science — that  we  are  not  at 
all  surprised  at  the  many  editions  and  variety  of  style  of 
works  written  expressly  to  connect  his  name  with  them. 
We  annex  a  pleasing  little  sketch  of  some  of  the  early 
scenes  of  his  life,  from  notes  furnished  by  Thomas  J. 
Wharton,  Esq.,  to  the  Historical  Society  of  Pennsylvania, 
in  1830  :— 

"The  year  1719  deserves  particular  remembrance  in 
the  annals  of  Pennsylvania,  as  that  in  which  the  first 
newspaper  was  printed  in  the  State.  These  potent  engines 
exercise  so  vast  an  influence  for  good  or  evil  over  men's 


POST  TENEBRAS  LUX.  149 

minds  and  actions  in  the  present  age,  that  a  particular  history 
of  their  rise  and  progress  would  be  no  idle  or  unprofitable 
task,  though  out  of  place  here.  The  first  number  of  the 
'American  Weekly  Mercury/  as  it  was  called,  appeared 
on  the  22d  of  December,  1719,  on  a  half-sheet  of  the 
quarto  size,  and  purported  to  be  printed  'by  Andrew 
Bradford  at  the  Second  Street/  and  to  be  sold  by  him  and 
by  John  Copson  in  Market  Street.  The  price  was  ten 
shillings  per  annum ;  and  this  was  quite  as  much  as  it 
deserved.  Extracts  from  foreign  journals  generally  about 
six  months  old,  and  two  or  three  badly-printed  advertise- 
ments, formed  the  substance  of  the  journal.  The  office 
of  the  editor  was  a  sinecure, — at  least  his  pen  seems  to 
have  been  seldom  employed,  and  little  information  can 
be  derived  from  the  journal  concerning  the  existing  con- 
dition of  Philadelphia.  Occasionally  a  bill  of  mortality 
tells  us  that  one  adult  and  one  child  died  during  a  certain 
week,  and  even  that  is  beyond  the  usual  number;  for 
some  weeks  appear  to  have  passed  without  a  single  death. 
From  the  following  advertisement,  which  appears  in  No. 
17,  something  of  the  customs  and  state  of  things  at  the 
period  may  be  gathered : — '  These  are  to  give  notice 
that  Matthew  Cowley,  a  skinner  by  trade,  is  removed 
from  Chestnut  Street  to  dwell  in  Walnut  Street,  near  the 
Bridge,  where  all  persons  may  have  their  buck  and  doe- 
skins dressed,  &c.'  '  He  also  can  furnish  you  with  bind- 
ings, &c.'  What  new  ideas  of  Walnut  Street  does  not 
this  hint  about  a  bridge  give  us!  and  how  plenty  must 
deer  have  been  in  those  times,  when  all  persons  are  invited 
to  have  their  skins  dressed  by  Matthew  Cowley !  And  then 
what  a  familiar  and  village-sort  of  acquaintance  with 
everybody  does  not  the  transition  at  the  end,  from  the 
third  to  the  second  person  plural,  imply!  'He  also  can 
furnish  you  with  bindings,  &c.7 

"  Nine  years  after  the  appearance  of  the  American  Mer- 

13* 


150  POST  TENEBRAS  LUX. 

oury,  the  Philadelphia  press  was  delivered  of  a  second 
newspaper,  to  which  the  modest  title  was  given  of  'The 
Universal  Instructor  of  all  Arts  and  Sciences,  and  Penn- 
sylvania Gazette/  In  his  inimitable  autobiography  Frank- 
lin has  immortalized  Keimer,  the  eccentric  publisher  of 
this  journal,  whose  vanity  and  selfishness,  whose  wild 
notions  upon  religion  and  morals,  and  whose  turn  for 
poetry  and  gluttony  are  so  happily  and  graphically  de- 
lineated. Franklin,  from  whom  Keimer  had  stolen  the 
idea  of  a  second  newspaper,  attacked  it  in  a  series  of 
papers  published  in  Bradford's  journal  and  called  The 
Busy-Body.*  The  'Universal  Instructor'  soon  fell  into 
decay,  and  then  into  Franklin's  hands,  by  whom  it  was 
very  skilfully  managed,  both  for  his  own  profit  and  for 
the  interest  and  edification  of  the  public.  An  editorial 
notice  in  one  of  Franklin's  papers  proves,  in  rather  a 
ludicrous  way,  how  badly  Philadelphia  was  supplied  at 
the  time  (1736)  with  printing-presses.  What  was  called 
the  outer  form  was  printed  reversely  or  upside  down  to 
the  inner  form,  and  the  following  apology  is  offered : — '  The 
printer  hopes  the  irregular  publication  of  this  paper  will 
be  excused  a  few  times  by  his  town  readers,  in  considera- 
tion of  his  being  at  Burlington  with  the  press,  laboring 
for  the  public  good  to  make  money  more  plentiful.' 

"It  is  not  generally  known  that  this  venerable  journal 
survived  till  within  a  year  or  two  of  the  present  time, 
under  the  name  of  'The  Pennsylvania  Gazette.'  The 


*  A  manuscript  note  in  the  file  of  the  American  Mercury,  preserved 
in  the  City  Library,  says  that  Franklin  wrote  the  first  five  numbers 
and  part  of  the  eighth  of  this  series.  The  rest  were  written  by  J.  B., 
probably  Joseph  Breintnail,  a  member  of  the/wn^o,  whom  Franklin  de- 
scribes as  a  "good-natured,  friendly,  middle-aged  man,  a  great  lover 
of  poetry,  reading  all  he  could  meet  with,  and  writing  some  that  was 
tolerable;  very  ingenious  in  making  little  nicknackeries,  and  of  sensible 
conversation." 


POST  TENEBRAS  LUX.  151 

third  newspaper  published  in  Pennsylvania  was  'The 
Pennsylvania  Journal  and  Weekly  Advertiser/  the  first 
number  of  which  appeared  on  the  2d  of  December,  1742; 
and  several  other  journals  shortly  afterwards  arose,  with 
various  success.  In  1760  five  newspapers  were  published 
in  the  State,  all  weekly, — three  of  them  printed  in  the  city, 
one  in  Germantown,  and  one  in  Lancaster.  In  1810  the 
number  had  increased  to  sixty-six,  of  which  thirteen  were 
published  in  Philadelphia;  and  in  1824  an  official  return 
to  the  postmaster-general  stated  the  number  at  one  hundred 
and  ten,  of  which  eighteen  were  published  in  Philadel- 
phia, eleven  of  them  daily :  a  prodigious  increase,  which 
argues  that  the  appetite  for  this  food  has  increased  in  full 
proportion  with  the  population.  It  is  perhaps  worth 
adding  that  the  first  daily  newspaper  that  appeared  on  the 
continent  of  America  was  published  in  Philadelphia. 

"There  are  few  persons  on  record  to  whose  individual 
genius  and  exertions  a  community  has  owed  so  much  as  to 
Dr.  Franklin.  If  William  Penn  was  the  political  founder 
of  the  province,  Franklin  may  perhaps  be  denominated 
the  architect  of  its  literature,  the  gifted  author  of  many 
of  its  best  institutions,  and  the  father  of  some  of  the  finest 
features  of  our  character.  It  is  seldom,  however,  that 
Providence  has  vouchsafed  such  a  length  of  years  to  such 
an  intellect,  and  still  more  seldom  that  such  events  occur 
as  those  which  developed  the  powers  and  capacities  of 
Franklin's  mind.  The  name  of  this  illustrious  man  is 
closely  connected  with  the  literary  history  of  Pennsyl- 
vania; but  his  life  and  actions  are  too  well  known  to 
require  that  any  elaborate  notice  of  them  should  be  given 
here.  Referring,  therefore,  to  his  own  invaluable  memoirs 
for  the  events  of  his  personal  and  political  history,  I  shall 
content  myself  with  a  short  sketch  of  the  principal  features 
of  his  literary  career.  The  year  1723  was  that  in  which 
Franklin  first  set  his  foot  in  Philadelphia.  As  he  landed 


152  POST  TENEBRAS  LUX. 

on  Market  Street  wharf,  and  walked  up  that  street,  an 
obscure  and  almost  penniless  boy,  devouring  a  roll  of 
bread,  and  ignorant  where  he  could  find  a  lodging  for  the 
night,  little  could  he  or  any  one  who  then  saw  him  antici- 
pate that  later  advent,  when,  sixty  years  afterwards,  he 
landed  upon  the  same  wharf,  amid  the  acclamations  of 
thousands  of  spectators,  on  his  return  from  an  embassy  in 
which  he  had  dictated  to  his  former  king  the  terms  of 
peace  for  the  confederated  republics,  of  one  of  which  he 
was  placed  at  the  head,  and  not  merely  distinguished  as  a 
politician,  but  covered  with  literary  honors  and  distinctions 
from  every  country  in  Christendom  by  which  genius  and 
public  virtue  were  held  in  estimation.  And  yet  the  change 
was  scarcely  greater  for  Franklin  than  for  Philadelphia. 
The  petty  provincial  village,  with  its  scattered  houses 
dotted  over  the  bank  of  the  Delaware,  had  become  a  mag- 
nificent metropolis,  distinguished  for  the  wisdom  and  libe- 
rality of  its  institutions,  and  as  the  seat  of  a  general  and 
republican  government,  which  at  the  former  period  could 
scarcely  have  entered  into  his  dreams. 

"  At  the  time  of  Franklin's  arrival  in  Philadelphia  there 
were  two  printing-offices  in  operation.  Keimer,  the  pro- 
prietor of  one  of  them,  had  but  one  press  and  a  few  worn- 
out  types,  with  which,  when  Franklin  visited  him,  he  was 
composing  an  elegy,  literally  of  his  own  composition,  for 
it  had  never  gone  through  the  usual  process  in  this  manu- 
facture, of  pen  and  ink,  but  flowed  at  once  from  his 
brain  to  the  press.  The  subject  of  these  typographical 
stanzas  was  Aquila  Rose,  an  apprentice  in  the  office,  whose 
surname  naturally  suggested  to  the  mind  of  Keimer  some 
touching  figures.  If  we  may  judge  from  some  specimens 
of  his  poetry  which  Thomas  has  preserved  in  his  History 
of  Printing,  the  province  lost  little  by  Keimer's  emigration 
to  Bermuda,  which  took  place  shortly  afterwards." 

Perhaps,  if  we  except  his  scientific  and  political  labors, 


POST  TENEBRAS  LUX.  153 

— labors  which  won  him  a  name  while  living  and  honored 
when  dead, — there  was  no  other  department  wherein  busi- 
ness and  tact  were  so  united  to  effect  a  great  national 
reform  as  in  that  of  the  post-office. 

And  yet  historians  pass  over  that  portion  of  his  life 
with  a  mere  dash  of  the  pen,  and  seem  to  consider  it  a 
dry  episode  in  his  otherwise  eventful  career.  Had  they 
gone  into  the  history  of  this  connection,  the  business  of 
the  postal  department  would  have  loomed  up  before  them 
a  splendid  subject  to  descant  upon.  It  would  have  shown 
them  how  out  of  chaos  came  forth,  under  Franklin's  con- 
trol, a  form  perfect  in  shape  and  gigantic  in  its  propor- 
tions. It  would  tower  a  giant  above  the  many  lesser  sub- 
jects he  wrote  pages  upon,  and  give  to  the  world  a  leaf 
in  our  book  on  political  economy  which  is  now — at  least 
as  far  as  this  department  is  concerned — a  blank  page. 

Benjamin  Franklin,  at  the  head  of  the  postal  depart- 
ment under  the  colonial  government,  was  the  great  pioneer 
in  the  cause  of  letters :  he  mapped  the  length  and  breadth 
of  their  extent;  brought  distant  places  together  by  the 
speed  of  horses,  as  he  did  in  after-years  by  electric  power 
the  lightning  from  the  surcharged  clouds  to  our  very 
feet. 

And  when  at  the  head  of  the  department,  under  the 
States  united  forming  a  Union  that  has  made  us  a  nation 
among  nations,  to  be  honored,  respected,  and  feared,  he 
carried  out  his  plans,  based  upon  a  principle  that  has 
governed  the  operations  of  the  postal  department  to  this 
day. 

Franklin  died  April  17,  1790.  In  his  will,  dated  July 
17,  1788,  he  simply  expressed  his  wish  to  have  his  body 
buried  with  as  little  expense  or  ceremony  as  might  be. 
But  in  the  codicil,  dated  June  23, 1789,  but  a  few  months 
before  his  death,  we  find  this  clause : — 

"  I  wish  to  be  buried  by  the  side  of  my  wife,  if  it  may 


154  POST  TENEBRAS  LUX. 

be,  and  that  a  marble  stone,  to  be  made  by  Chambers,  six 
feet  long,  four  feet  wide,  plain,  with  only  a  small  mould- 
ing round  the  upper  ledge,  and  this  inscription : — 


BENJAMIN  ^ 

AND          V  FRANKLIN. 
DEBORAH  j 

178-. 


to  be  placed  over  us  both." 

In  the  graveyard  belonging  to  Christ  Church  in  this 
city,  situated  at  the  southeast  corner  of  Arch  and  Fifth 
Streets,  this  plain  slab,  with  the  above  inscription,  is  still 
to  be  seen. 

The  man  to  whose  memory  it  is  dedicated,  in  immediate 
expectation  of  death  (as  is  shown  by  the  fact  that  the 
codicil  was  made  in  June,  1789,  and  the  figures  178- 
are  so  arranged  by  him  that  unless  he  died  in  that  very 
year  they  would  be  useless),  had  calmly  and  deliberately 
selected  the  spot  where  he  wished  his  corpse  to  repose. 
There  rest  the  remains  of  one  whose  name,  though  simply 
recorded  on  a  piece  of  marble,  lives  in  memory  while 
reason  holds  its  throne  in  the  immortal  mind. 

There  is  in  the  simple  gray  stone  which  now  covers  the 
breasts  of  "Benjamin  Franklin  and  Deborah  his  wife" 
more  attraction  and  genuine  respectability  than  could  be 
found  in  the  loftiest  pillar  ever  reared  to  gratify  mere 
ambition. 

"Can  storied  urn  or  animated  bust 

Back  to  its  mansion  call  the  fleeting  breath  ? 
Can  honor's  voice  provoke  the  silent  dust, 

Or  flattery  soothe  the  dull,  cold  ear  of  death  ?" 

Richard  Bache  had  acted  as  postmaster  up  to  1776, 
when  he  was  succeeded  by  Ebenezer  Hazard.  Hazard's 


POST  TENEBRAS  LUX.  155 

name  is  better  known  as  an  editor  than  as  a  postmaster, 
as  he  subsequently  compiled  the  valuable  historical  col- 
lections bearing  his  name.  He  held  the  office  of  post- 
master until  the  inauguration  of  President  Washington's 
administration.  The  succession  of  postmaster-generals 
since  the  adoption  of  the  Federal  Constitution  will  be 
given  in  its  proper  place. 


156  REMINISCENCES— MAD  ANTHONY. 


X. 


MAD  ANTHONY  WA  YNE  AND  JEMMY  THE  ROVER. 

IN  the  year  1776  authority  was  given  to  employ  extra 
post-riders  between  the  armies  from  the  head-quarters  to 
Philadelphia.  These  post-riders  ran  many  risks,  as  refu- 
gees were  not  rare  at  that  day  :  hence  the  danger  was  ma- 
terially increased  in  consequence.  The  letters  of  General 
Wayne  were  interrupted,  as  were  those  of  others,  and  the 
utmost  caution  was  necessary  for  the  purpose  of  securing 
a  safe  conveyance.  Various  plans  were  adopted,  and  the 
postmaster  was  active  in  establishing  a  postal  communica- 
tion with  the  armies.  There  was  another  mode,  however, 
which  was  even  more  successful,  but  equally  dangerous 
to  the  parties  engaged:  this  was  the  spy  system.  Much 
valuable  information  was  conveyed  to  the  commanders  of 
the  armies  by  it,  which  could  not  have  reached  them 
through  the  regular  post.  In  one  of  General  Wayne's 
letters,  addressed  to  his  family  in  1781,  he  makes  allusion 
to  one  "Jemmy  the  Rover,"  whom  he  had  employed  as  a 
spy.  While  our  army  was  encamped  at  Valley  Forge, 
Jemmy  was  repeatedly  sent  within  the  British  lines,  and 
always  returned  with  correct  and  important  information. 
With  him  originated  the  appellation  of  "  Mad  Anthony" 
as  applied  to  the  general.  "Jemmy  the  Rover"  was  an 
Irishman  by  birth,  and  was  a  regularly-enlisted  soldier  in 
the  Pennsylvania  line.  The  real  name  of  Jemmy  is  not 
known.  He  was  subject  to,  or  at  least  feigned,  occasional 
fits  of  craziness,  in  which  state  he  often  proved  very  noisy 
and  troublesome,  and  in  one  instance  was  ordered  to  the 


JEMMY  THE  ROVER.  157 

guard-house.  Whilst  the  sergeant  with  a  file  of  men  was 
conducting  him  thither,  Jemmy  suddenly  halted,  and  asked 
the  sergeant  by  whose  orders  he  was  arrested.  "By  those 
of  the  general,"  was  the  reply.  "Then  forward!"  said 
the  Rover.  In  the  course  of  a  few  hours  he  was  released. 
In  the  act  of  taking  his  departure,  he  asked  the  sergeant 
whether  Anthony  (this  being  the  only  name  he  gave 
General  Wayne)  was  mad  or  in  fun  when  he  placed  him 
under  arrest.  The  answer  was,  "The  general  has  been 
much  displeased  with  your  disorderly  conduct,  and  a  repe- 
tition of  it  will  be  followed  not  only  by  confinement,  but 
by  twenty-nine  well  laid  on."  "  Then,"  exclaimed  Jemmy, 
"  Anthony  is  mad :  farewell  to  you ;  clear  the  coast  for  the 
commodore,  Mad  Anthony's  friend!"  He  suddenly  dis- 
appeared from  the  camp.  In  a  postscript  to  a  letter 
General  Wayne  wrote  to  his  family,  he  says,  "Jemmy  the 
Rover,  alias  the  commodore,  has  absented  himself  from 
this  detachment  of  the  army.  Should  he  in  his  rambles 
pass  your  way,  I  hope  that  you  will  extend  towards  him 
every  hospitality  which  may  be  most  likely  to  minister  to 
his  comfort.  I  am  convinced  that,  whether  in  his  hours 
of  sanity  or  insanity,  he  would  cheerfully  lay  down  his 
life  for  either  me  or  any  of  my  family." 

It  is  said  by  some  who  knew  Jemmy  that  he  was  a  man 
of  good  education  and  extraordinary  shrewdness:  in  fact, 
it  was  much  doubted  whether  or  not  Jemmy  feigned  de- 
rangement. 

As  every  thing  having  any  connection  with  the  events  of 
1776,  which  led  to  our  independence,  must  be  of  interest,  it 
may  not  be  out  of  place  here  to  introduce  the  following  remark- 
able prophecy,  made  in  the  eighth  century  by  Merlin,  the 
celebrated  Welsh  astrologer.  Its  fulfilment  in  almost  every 
particular  renders  it  the  more  interesting,  as  evidenced  in 
the  American  Revolution,  to  which  reference  seems*  to 
have  been  made.  Had  this  prophecy  been  published  sub- 

14 


158  SIBYLLINE  ORACLE. 

sequent  to  the  Revolution,  its  authenticity  might  have 
been  doubted,  or  at  least  questioned.  But  it  is  copied 
from  Hawkins's  work,  published  in  the  year  1530. 

In  connection  with  the  prophecy,  we  also  give  the  key, 
furnished  by  an  old  citizen  of  Philadelphia  to  the  editors 
of  the  "Columbian  Magazine,"  published  in  this  city,  in 
the  March  number,  1787: — 

" SIBYLLINE  ORACLE. 

"  Uttered  by  Merlin,  Borne  time  during  the  eighth  century,  in  Wales,  of  which  he 
was  a  native. 

I. 

"When  the  savage  is  meek  and  mild, 
The  frantic  mother  shall  stab  her  child. 

II. 

"When  the  Cock  shall  woo  the  Dove, 
The  mother  the  child  shall  cease  to  love. 

III. 

"When  men,  like  moles,  work  under  ground, 
The  Lion  a  Virgin  true  shall  wound. 

IV. 

"When  the  Dove  and  Cock  the  Lion  shall  fight, 
The  Lion  shall  crouch  beneath  their  might. 

V. 

"When  the  Cock  shall  guard  the  Eagle's  nest, 
The  Stars  shall  rise  all  in  the  west. 

VI. 

"When  ships  above  the  clouds  shall  sail, 
The  Lion's  strength  shall  surely  fail. 

VII. 

"When  Neptune's  back  with  stripes  is  red, 
The  sickly  Lion  shall  hide  his  head. 

VIII. 

"When  seven  and  six  shall  make  but  one, 
The  Lion's  might  shall  be  undone." 


SIBYLLINE  ORACLE.  159 

Verse  1. — The  settlement  of  America  by  a  civilized 
nation  is  very  clearly  alluded  to  in  the  first  line.  The 
frantic  mother  is  Britain.  America  still  feels  the  wounds 
she  has  received  from  her. 

Verse  2. — The  Cock  is  France,  the  Dove  is  America, 
Columbia;  their  union  is  the  epocha  when  America  shall 
cease  to  love  Britain. 

Verse  3. — In  many  parts  of  Europe  there  are  subterra- 
nean works  carried  on  by  persons  who  never  see  the  light 
of  day.  But  perhaps  the  solution  may  more  particularly 
be  referred  to  the  siege  of  York,  in  Virginia,  where  the 
approaches  were  carried  on  by  working  in  the  earth.  In 
the  second  line  there  is  another  equivoque.  We  are  told 
by  Mr.  Addison,  in  his  "Spectator,"  that  a  lion  will  not 
hurt  a  true  maid.  This,  at  first  view,  seems  to  be  contra- 
dicted by  the  prophecy;  but,  on  examination,  the  epocha 
referred  to,  the  virgin,  Columbia  (or,  perhaps,  Virginia, 
by  which  name  all  North  America  was  called  in  the  days 
of  Queen  Elizabeth),  shall  wound  the  lion, — that  is, 
Britain, — which  shows  the  precise  time  when  the  oracle 
should  be  accomplished. 

Verse  4  clearly  alludes  to  the  successes  of  the  united 
forces  of  America  and  France  against  those  of  Britain. 

Verse  5. — For  the  solution  of  this  oracle,  as  well  as  all 
the  rest,  we  are  indebted  to  the  engraving  of  the  arms  of 
the  United  States  in  the  "  Columbian  Magazine''  for  Sep- 
tember, 1786.  America  is  clearly  designated  by  the  eagle's 
nest,  as  it  is  the  only  part  of  the  globe  where  the  bald 
eagle  (the  arms  of  the  United  States)  is  to  be  found.  Thus, 
this  hitherto  inexplicable  prophecy  may  now  be  easily 
understood  as  meaning  that  when  the  cock — that  is,  France 
— shall  protect  America  (as  she  did  during  the  late  war), 
the  stars — that  is,  the  standard  of  the  American  empire — 
shall  rise  in  this  western  hemisphere. 

Verse  6. — It  is  very  remarkable  that  the  first  discovery 


160  SIBYLLINE  ORACLE. 

of  the  amazing  properties  of  inflammable  air,  by  means 
of  which  men  have  been  able  to  explore  a  region  till  then 
impervious  to  them,  happened  in  the  same  year  when 
Britain's  strength  was  so  reduced  as  to  oblige  her  to 
acknowledge  the  independence  of  America.  The  boats 
in  which  the  adventurous  aeronauts  traversed  the  upper 
regions  are  the  ships  here  referred  to. 

Thus  far  the  prophecy  seems  to  have  been  already  fully 
and  literally  accomplished:  it  is  to  be  hoped  that  the 
accomplishment  of  those  which  remain  is  not  far  remote. 

Verse  7  I  understand  to  mean  that  when  the  sea 
(Neptune's  back]  is  red  with  the  American  stripes,  the  naval 
power  of  Britain  shall  decline.  A  proper  exertion  in  the 
art  of  ship-building  would  soon  produce  this  effect;  and 
whenever  Congress  is  vested  with  the  power  of  regulating 
the  commerce  of  America,  we  may  hope  to  see  the  full 
accomplishment  of  this  prediction. 

Verse  8. — This  oracle  clearly  alludes  to  an  epocha  not 
far  removed,  as  we  may  hope ;  for  when  the  thirteen  United 
States  shall,  under  the  auspices  of  the  present  federal  con- 
vention, have  strengthened  and  cemented  their  union  by  a 
proper  revisal  of  the  articles  of  confederation,  so  as  to  be 
really  but  ONE  NATION,  Britain  will  no  longer  be  able  to 
maintain  that  rank  and  consequence  among  the  nations  of 
the  earth  which  she  had  hitherto  done. 

Since  the  publication  of  this  explanation,  the  fulfilment 
of  the  two  last  has  become  a  part  and  portion  of  our 
history.  That  Neptune's  back  is  red  with  the  stripes  and, 
we  may  add,  stars,  every  child  knows;  and  the  sickly  lion 
already  hides  his  head,  not  only  beneath  the  folds  of  our 
flag,  but  plays  second  fiddle  to  the  cock  of  France. 

The  eighth  is  fully  accomplished,  and  '76,  as  well  as 
seven  and  six,  form  a  pleasing  illustration  of  the  prophecy, 
as  they  do  one  of  the  most  interesting  incidents  in  our 
history.  The  thirteen  States  (seven  and  six)  have  multi- 


FOURTH  OF  JULY,  1776.  161 

plied  nearly  thrice  since  the  Declaration  of  Independence, 
and  are  now,  as  then,  BUT  ONE,  and  that  one  a  nation. 

Walter  Scott,  speaking  of  Merlin,  or  the  Savage,  as  he 
was  called,  says,  "The  particular  spot  in  which  he  is 
buried  is  still  shown,  and  appears,  from  the  following  quo- 
tation, taken  from  a  description  of  Tweeddale,  1715,  to 
have  partaken  of  his  prophetic  qualities : — 

'When  Tweed  and  Pausayl  meet 

At  Merlin's  grave, 
Scotland  and  England  shall  one 
Monarch  have.' 

For  the  same  day  that  our  King  James  the  Sixth  was 
crowned  king  of  England,  the  river  Tweed,  by  an  extra- 
ordinary flood,  so  far  overflowed  its  banks  that  it  met  and 
joined  with  the  Pausayl  at  the  said  grave,  which  was 
never  before  observed  to  fall  out." 

The  precise  spot  pointed  out  to  travellers  is  situated 
near  Drumelzier,  a  village  upon  the  Tweed. 

FOURTH  OF  JULY,  1776. 
"The  first  motion  in  Congress  was  to  declare  this  country  independent." 

The  first  assembling  of  the  Revolutionary  Congress  took 
place  in  this  city  on  the  5th  of  September,  1774.  Subse- 
quently the  progress  of  the  war  continued  to  ripen  the 
public  mind  and  feelings  for  a  total  separation  from 
Great  Britain.  It  was  not,  however,  until  the  7th  of 
June,  1776,  that  any  special  action  was  had  for  that  pur- 
pose. On  that  day  Richard  Henry  Lee,  a  delegate  from 
Virginia,  made  the  following  motion,  which  was  seconded 
by  John  Adams: — 

"To  declare  these  united  colonies  free  and  independent 
States;  that  they  are  dissolved  from  all  allegiance  to  the 
British  crown,  and  that  all  political  connection  between  them 
and  the  state  of  Great  Britain  is  and  ought  to  be  totally 
dissolved;  that  measures  should  be  immediately  taken  for 

14* 


162  FOURTH  OF  JULY,  1776. 

procuring  assistance  of  foreign  powers,  and  that  a  confede- 
ration be  formed  to  bind  the  colonies  more  closely  together." 

On  the  following  day  the  subject  was  debated,  and  on 
the  1st  of  July  a  committee  consisting  of  five  delegates — 
Messrs.  Jefferson,  Adams,  Franklin,  R.  Sherman,  and 
R.  R.  Lawrence — was  selected  by  ballot  to  draft  a 
DECLARATION  OF  INDEPENDENCE. 

According  to  parliamentary  usage,  Mr.  Lee  would  have 
been  the  chairman  of  this  committee ;  but  he  was  absent  in 
Virginia  on  account  of  the  illness  of  a  member  of  his 
family.  Mr.  Jefferson,  however,  having  the  greatest 
number  of  votes,  was  selected  by  the  other  members  of 
the  committee  to  act  as  chairman,  and  the  draft  prepared 
by  him  was  first  read  in  committee.  Some  verbal  altera- 
tions were  made  by  Dr.  Franklin  and  Mr.  Adams,  and  it 
was  not  thought  necessary  to  read  the  drafts  prepared  by 
the  others.  It  was  stated  at  the  time  that  the  other 
members  of  the  committee  were  so  pleased  with  Mr.  Jeffer- 
son's draft  that  they  would  not  submit  theirs  even  for  con- 
sideration. Perhaps  no  higher  compliment  was  ever  paid 
to  the  author  of  our  Declaration  of  Independence  than 
that  which  emanated  from  the  gentlemen  who  composed 
this  committee. 

The  Declaration,  thus  prepared  and  amended,  was  finally 
adopted  in  Congress  on  the  4th,  and  was  read  to  a  meeting 
of  the  citizens  of  Philadelphia,  assembled  at  the  State- 
House  yard,  from  the  steps  of  the  building. 

The  house  in  which  Mr.  Jefferson  wrote  the  Declaration 
is  still  standing,  at  the  southwest  corner  of  Seventh  and 
Market  Streets.  Mr.  Jefferson  had  rooms  in  it  as  a  lodger 
when  a  member  of  the  Congress  of  ;76.  Two  days  before 
the  adoption  of  the  Declaration  and  its  promulgation,  Mr. 
Adams,  in  a  letter  addressed  to  his  wife,  makes  use  of  the 
following  language: — 

"I  am  apt  to  believe  that  it  will  be  celebrated  by  sue- 


r>norJinrr 


FOURTH  OF  JULY,  1776.  163 


ceeding  generations  as  the  grand  anniversary  festival.  It 
ought  to  be  commemorated  as  the  day  of  deliverance  by 
solemn  acts  of  devotion  to  God  Almighty.  It  ought  to 
be  solemnized  with  pomp,  shows,  games,  sports,  guns,  bells, 
bonfires,  and  illuminations,  from  one  end  of  the  continent 
to  the  other,  from  this  time  forward  and  forever. 

"I  am  well  aware  of  the  toil,  and  blood,  and  treasure 
that  it  will  cost  us  to  maintain  this  declaration  and  to 
support  and  defend  the  States :  yet  through  all  the  gloom 
I  can  see  the  rays  of  light  and  glory.  I  can  see  that  the 
end  is  more  than  worth  all  the  means,  and  that  posterity 
will  triumph,  although  you  and  I  may  rue  it, — which  I 
hope  we  shall  not." 

When  the  bell  sounded  forth  from  the  steeple  of  the 
old  State-House,  the  first  peal  for  liberty  gave  new  life  to 
the  citizens:  from  lip  to  lip,  from  street  to  street,  from 
city,  town,  and  through  the  country,  away,  away,  the 
words  roll  like  the  waves  of  the  ocean,  and  reverberating 
like  the  roar  of  the  wind  as,  undulating,  it  passed  through 
all  space.  The  city  of  Philadelphia  on  the  afternoon  of 
July  4,  1776,  presented  to  view  a  city  convulsed.  Joy 
united  with  patriotism,  and  then  the  word  "  Freedom !" 
became  the  watchword. 

When  the  news  reached  New  York,  the  bells  were  set 
ringing,  and  the  excited  multitude,  surging  hither  and 
thither,  at  length  gathered  around  the  Bowling  Green, 
and,  seizing  the  leaden  equestrian  statue  of  George  III. 
which  stood  there,  broke  it  into  fragments:  this  was 
afterwards  run  into  bullets  and  hurled  against  his 
majesty's  troops.*  When  the  Declaration  arrived  in  Bos- 

*  As  an  improvement  on  the  above,  cartridge-paper  of  a  peculiar 
kind  was  used  in  1778.  When  the  American  army  entered  Philadelphia^ 
in  June,  1778,  upon  the  evacuation  of  the  English  troops,  there  was  a 
want  of  paper  fitted  for  the  construction  of  cartridges.  It  was  adver- 
tised for,  and  but  a  small  quantity  procured.  An  order  was  then  issued 


164  LIBERTY-TREE. 

ton,  the  people  gathered  around  old  Faneuil  Hall  to  hear 
it  read,  and,  as  the  last  sentence  fell  from  the  lips  of  the 
reader,  a  loud  shout  went  up,  and  soon  from  every  fortified 
height  and  every  battery  the  thunder  of  cannon  re-echoed 
the  cry. 

LIBER  TY-  TREE. 

During  the  Stamp  Act  excitement  there  arose  a  practice 
of  signifying  public  sentiment  in  a  very  effectual  way, — 
though  without  any  responsible  agent,  unless  the  inani- 
mate Liberty-Tree  may  be  so  considered.  This  tree  was 
a  majestic  elm  that  stood  in  front  of  a  house  opposite  the 
Boylston  market,  on  the  edge  of  the  "  High  Street,"  in  the 
town  of  Boston.  On  the  14th  of  August,  1765,  an  effigy 
representing  Andrew  Oliver,  a  gentleman  appointed  to 
distribute  the  stamps,  was  found  hanging  upon  this  tree, 
with  a  paper  before  it,  on  which  was  written,  in  large 
characters, — 

"Fair  Freedom's  glorious  cause  I've  meanly  quitted, 

For  the  sake  of  pelf; 
But,  ah,  the  devil  has  me  outwitted, 
And,  instead  of  stamping  others,  I've  hang'd  myself. 

"P.  S. — Whoever  takes  this  down  is  an  enemy  to  his 

demanding  its  instant  production  by  all  people  in  that  city  who  had  it. 
This  produced  but  little,  and  most  probably  on  account  of  its  scarcity. 
A  file  of  soldiers  was  then  ordered  to  make  search  for  it  in  every  place 
where  any  was  likely  to  be  found.  Among  other  places  visited  in  July, 
1778,  was  a  garret  in  a  house  in  which  Benjamin  Franklin  had  pre- 
viously had  his  printing-office.  Here  were  discovered  about  twenty- 
five  hundred  copies  of  a  sermon  which  the  Rev.  Gilbert  Tennent  had 
written  (printed  by  Franklin)  upon  "Defensive  War,"  to  rouse  the 
colonists  during  the  French  troubles.  They  were  all  taken  and  used 
as  cases  for  musket-cartridges,  and  at  once  sent  to  the  army ;  and  most 
of  them  were  used  at  the  battle  of  Monmouth.  The  requisites  in  car- 
tridge-paper were,  of  course,  thinness,  strength,  pliability,  and  inflam- 
mability ;  and  such  paper  was  necessarily  scarce  then. 


LIBERTY-TREE.  165 

country."     On  the  right  arm  was  written  "A.  O.,"  and 
on  the  left, 

'What  greater  pleasure  can  there  be 
Than  to  see  a  stamp  man  hanging  on  a  tree  ?" 

On  another  part  of  the  tree  a  boot  was  suspended, — the 
emblem  of  the  Earl  of  Bute,  First  Lord  of  the  Treasury, — 
from  which  the  devil,  with  the  Stamp  Act  in  his  hand, 
was  looking  out.  Chief  Justice— afterwards  Governor 
— Hutchinson,  directed  the  sheriff  to  remove  this  exhi- 
bition ;  but  his  deputies,  from  a  fear  of  the  popular  feeling, 
declined.  In  the  evening  the  figures  were  taken  down  by 
the  people  and  carried  in  procession  through  the  streets. 
After  demolishing  the  stamp-office,  in  State  Street,  they 
proceeded  to  Fort  Hill,  where  a  bonfire  was  made  of 
the  pageantry  in  sight  of  Mr.  Oliver's  house.  It  being 
intimated  to  Mr.  Oliver  that  it  would  conduce  to  the 
quiet  of  the  public  if  he  would  go  to  the  tree  and  openly 
resign  his  commission,  he  appeared  the  next  day,  and  de- 
clared, in  the  presence  of  a  large  concourse  of  people,  that 
he  would  not  continue  in  office.  It  was  thenceforward 
called  the  Liberty-Tree,  and  the  following  inscription 
placed  upon  it : — "This  tree  was  planted  in  the  year  1614, 
and  pruned  by  the  order  of  the  Sons  of  Liberty,  February 
14,  1766."  On  future  occasions  there  was  seldom  any 
excitement  on  political  subjects  without  some  evidence 
of  it  appearing  on  this  tree.  Whenever  obnoxious  offices 
were  to  be  resigned  or  agreements  for  patriotic  purposes 
entered  into,  the  parties  were  notified  to  appear  at  the 
tree,  "where  they  always  found  pens  and  paper,  and 
a  numerous  crowd  of  witnesses,  though  the  genius  of  the 
tree  was  invisible.  When  the  British  army  took  posses- 
sion of  Boston,  in  1774,  Liberty-Tree  fell  a  victim  to 
their  vengeance,  or  to  that  of  the  persons  to  whom  its 
shade  had  been  disagreeable."  Liberty-trees  were  con- 
secrated in  Charlestown,  Lexington,  and  Roxbury,  Mass., 


166  LIBERTY-TREE. 

and  also  in  Charleston,  S.C.,  Newport  and   Providence, 
R.I.— Tudor' s  Life  of  Otis. 

LIBERTY-TKEE. 

1765. 


This  beautiful  ballad  was  written  by  Thomas  Paine,  the  author  of  the  "  Age  of  Rea- 
son," and  published  in  the  Pennsylvania  Magazine  of  July,  1775,  while  he  was  editor  of 
that  periodical.  He  composed  and  published  many  songs  and  elegies  during  his  connec- 
tion with  the  magazine.  Among  them,  "  The  Death  of  Wolfe  on  the  Plains  of  Abraham" 
is  uncommonly  pathetic  and  graceful. 

LIBERTY-TREE. 

In  a  chariot  of  light  from  the  regions  of  day 

The  Goddess  of  Liberty  came ; 
Ten  thousand  celestials  directed  the  way, 

And  hither  conducted  the  dame. 
A  fair  budding  branch  from  the  gardens  above, 

Where  millions  with  millions  agree, 
She  brought  in  her  hand  as  a  pledge  of  her  love, 

And  the  plant  she  named  Liberty-Tree 

The  celestial  exotic  struck  deep  in  the  ground ; 

Like  a  native  it  flourished  and  bore ; 
The  fame  of  its  fruit  drew  the  nations  around, 

To  seek  out  this  peaceable  shore. 
Unmindful  of  names  or  distinctions  they  came, 

For  freemen  like  brothers  agree ; 
With  one  spirit  endued,  they  one  friendship  pursued, 

And  their  temple  was  Liberty-Tree. 

Beneath  this  fair  tree,  like  the  patriarchs  of  old, 

Their  bread  in  contentment  they  ate, 
Unvex'd  with  the  troubles  of  silver  and  gold, 

The  cares  of  the  grand  and  the  great. 
With  timber  and  tar  they  Old  England  supplied, 

And  supported  her  power  on  the  sea ; 
Her  battles  they  fought,  without  getting  a  groat, 

For  the  honor  of  Liberty-Tree. 

But  hear,  0  ye  swains, — 'tis  a  tale  most  profane, — 

How  all  the  tyrannical  powers, 
Kings,  Commons,  and  Lords,  are  uniting  amain 

To  cut  down  this  guardian  of  ours ; 


YANKEE  DOODLE.  167 

From  the  east  to  the  west  blow  the  trumpet  to  arms, 
Through  the  land  let  the  sound  of  it  flee, 

Let  the  far  and  the  near  all  unite  with  a  cheer 
In  defence  of  our  Liberty-Tree. 

YANKEE  DOODLE:— THE  AIR  AND  WORDS. 

There  are  so  many  versions  of  the  origin  of  this  popular 
and  now  national  air,  as  well  as  the  words,  that  we  offer 
the  following  to  our  readers  without  note  or  comment. 

In  Burgh's  Anecdotes  of  Music,  vol.  iii.  p.  405,  after 
speaking  of  Dr.  Arne  and  John  Frederick  Lampe,  the 
author  proceeds : — "  Besides  Lampe  and  Arne,  there  were 
at  this  time  [1731]  other  candidates  for  musical  fame  of 
the  same  description.  Among  these  were  Mr.  John 
Christian  Smith,  who  set  two  English  operas  for  Lincoln's 
Inn  Fields, — Teraminta  and  Ulysses, — and  Dr.  Tresh, 
author  of  the  oratorio  of  Judith." 

About  the  year  1797,  after  having  become  a  tolerable 
proficient  on  the  German  flute,  I  took  it  into  my  head 
to  learn  the  bassoon,  and  for  this  purpose  procured  an 
instrument  and  book  of  instructions  from  the  late  Mr. 
Joseph  Carr,  who  had  then  recently  opened  a  music-store 
in  Baltimore  City,  being  the  first  regular  establishment  of 
the  kind  in  this  country.  In  this  book  there  was  an  "Air 
from  Ulysses,"  which  was  the  identical  air  now  called 
Yankee  Doodle,  with  the  exception  of  a  few  notes  which 
time  and  fancy  niay  have  added. 

Here  is  another  version : — 

In  the  simultaneous  attacks  that  were  made  upon  the 
French  posts  in  America  in  1755,  that  against  Fort  Du 
Quesne  (the  present  site  of  Pittsburg)  was  conducted  by 
General  Braddock,  and  those  against  Niagara  and  Fron- 
tenac  by  Governor  Shirley,  of  Massachusetts,  and  General 
Johnston,  of  New  York.  The  following  is  an  extract 
from  Judge  Martin's  History  of  North  Carolina,  giving 
an  account  of  those  expeditions : — 


1G8  YANKEE  DOODLE. 

"The  army  of  the  latter  (Shirley  and  Johnston),  during 
the  summer,  lay  on  the  eastern  bank  of  the  Hudson,  a 
little  south  of  the  city  of  Albany.     In  the  early  part  of 
June  the  troops  of  the  Eastern  provinces  began  to  pour  in, 
company  after  company;  and  such  a  motley  assemblage 
of  men  never  before  thronged  together  on  such  an  occa- 
sion, unless  an  example  may  be  found  in  the  ragged  regi- 
ment of  Sir  John  Falstaff.     It  would  have  relaxed  the 
gravity  of  an  anchorite  to  have  seen  the  descendants  of 
the  Puritans,  marching  through  the  streets  of  that  ancient 
city   (Albany),  take   their   situations  on  the  left  of  the 
British  army, — some  with  long  coats,  and  others  with  no 
coats  at  all,  with  colors  as  various  as  the  rainbow, — some  with 
their  hair  cropped  like  the  army  of  Cromwell,  and  others 
with  wigs,  the  locks  of  which  floated  with  grace  around 
their  shoulders.     Their  march,  their  accoutrements,  and 
the  whole  arrangement  of  the  troops,  furnished  matter  of 
amusement  to  the  rest  of  the  British  army.     The  music 
played  the  airs  of  two  centuries  ago ;  and  the  tout  ensemble, 
upon  the  whole,  exhibited  a  sight  to  the  wondering  stran- 
gers, to  which  they  had  been  unaccustomed.     Among  the 
club  of  wits  that  belonged  to  the  British  army  there  was 
a  Doctor  Shackburg,  attached  to  the  staff,  who  combined 
with  the  science  of  surgeon  the  skill  and  talents  of  a 
musician.      To   please   the   new-comers,  he   composed   a 
tune,  and  with    much   gravity  recommended   it   to   the 
officers  as  one  of  the  most  celebrated  airs  of  martial  music. 
The  joke  took,  to  the  no  small  amusement  of  the  British. 
Brother  Jonathan  exclaimed  it  was  nation  fine,  and  in  a 
few  days  nothing  was  heard  in  the  provincial  camp  but 
the  air  of  Yankee  Doodle.     Little  did  the  author  in  his 
composition  then  suppose  that  an  air  made  for  the  pur- 
pose of  levity  and  ridicule  should   ever  be   marked  for 
such  high  destinies.     In  twenty  years  from  that  time  the 
national  march  inspired  the  heroes  of  Bunker  Hill,  and 


YANKEE  DOODLE.  169 

in  less  than  thirty  years  Lord  Cornwallis  and  his  army 
marched  into  the  American  lines  to  the  tune  of  Yankee 
Doodle." 

Watson,  in  his  "Occurrences  of  the  War  of  Independ- 
ence," says, — 

"  This  tune,  so  celebrated  as  a  national  air  of  the  Kevo- 
lution,  has  an  origin  almost  unknown  to  the  mass  of  the 
people  of  the  present  day.  An  aged  and  respectable  lady, 
born  in  New  England,  told  me  she  remembered  it  well, 
long  before  the  Revolution,  under  another  name.  It  was 
then  universally  called  'Lydia  Fisher/  and  was  a  favor- 
ite New  England  jig.  It  was  then  the  practice  with  it, 
as  with  Yankee  Doodle  now,  to  sing  it  with  various  im- 
promptu verses, — such  as 

'Lydia  Locket  lost  her  pocket, 

Lydia  Fisher  found  it ; 
Not  a  bit  of  money  in  it, 
Only  binding  round  it.' 

"The  British,  preceding  the  war,  when  disposed  to 
ridicule  the  simplicity  of  the  Yankee  manners  and  hilarity, 
were  accustomed  to  sing  airs  or  songs  set  to  words  in- 
vented for  the  passing  occasion,  having  for  their  object  to 
satirize  and  sneer  at  the  New  Englanders.  This,  as  I  be- 
lieve, they  called  Yankee  Doodle,  by  way  of  reproach, 
and  as  a  slur  upon  their  favorite  '  Lydia  Fisher/  It  is 
remembered  that  the  English  officers  then  among  us, 
acting  under  civil  and  military  appointments,  often  felt 
lordly  over  us  as  colonists,  and  by  countenancing  such 
slurs  they  sometimes  expressed  their  superciliousness. 
When  the  battles  of  Concord  and  Lexington  began  the 
war,  the  English,  when  advancing  in  triumph,  played 
along  the  road,  '  God  save  the  King ;'  but  when  the  Ame 
ricans  had  made  the  retreat  so  disastrous  to  the  invaders, 
these  then  struck  up  the  scouted  Yankee  Doodle, — as  if  to  say, 
6  See  what  we  simple  Jonathans  can  do !'  From  that  time 

15 


170  YANKEE  DOODLE. 

the  term  of  intended  derision  was  assumed  throughout 
all  the  American  colonies,  as  the  national  air  of  the  Sons 
of  Liberty ;  even  as  the  Methodists — once  reproachfully 
so  called — assumed  it  as  their  acceptable  appellation. 
Even  the  name  of '  Sons  of  Liberty/  which  was  so  popular 
at  the  outset,  was  a  name  adopted  from  the  appellation  given 
us  in  Parliament  by  Colonel  Barr£  in  his  speech  !  Judge 
Martin,  in  his  History  of  North  Carolina,  has  lately 
given  another  reason  for  the  origin  of  '  Yankee  Doodle/ 
saying  it  was  first  formed  at  Albany,  in  1755,  by  a  British 
officer,  then  there,  indulging  his  pleasantry  on  the  homely 
array  of  the  motley  Americans  then  assembling  to  join 
the  expedition  of  General  Johnston  and  Governor  Shirley. 
To  ascertain  the  truth  in  the  premises,  both  his  and  my 
accounts  were  published  in  the  gazettes,  to  elicit,  if  pos- 
sible, further  information,  and  the  additional  facts  ascer- 
tained seem  to  corroborate  the  foregoing  idea.  The  tune 
and  quaint  words,  says  a  writer  in  the  i  Columbian  Ga- 
zette/ at  Washington,  were  known  as  early  as  the  time  of 
Cromwell,  and  were  so  applied  to  him  then,  in  a  song 
called  'Nankee  Doodle/  as  ascertained  from  the  collection 
he  had  seen  of  a  gentleman  at  Cheltenham,  in  England, 
called  '  Musical  Antiquities  of  England/  to  wit : — 

"  'Nankee  Doodle  came  to  town 

Upon  a  little  pony, 
With  a  feather  in  his  hat, 
Upon  a  macaroni,'  &c. 

"  The  term  feather,  &c.  alluded  to  Cromwell's  going 
into  Oxford  on  a  small  horse,  with  his  single  plume  fast- 
ened in  a  sort  of  knot  called  a  '  macaroni/  The  idea  that 
such  an  early  origin  may  have  existed  seems  strengthened 
by  the  fact  communicated  by  an  aged  gentleman  of  Mas- 
sachusetts, who  well  remembered  that,  about  the  time  the 
strife  was  engendering  at  Boston,  they  sometimes  conveyed 
muskets  to  the  country  concealed  in  their  loads  of  manure, 


YANKEE  DOODLE.  171 

&c.  Then  came  abroad  verses,  as  if  set  forth  from  their 
military  masters,  saying, — 

"  'Yankee  Doodle  came  to  town 

For  to  buy  a  firelock : 
We  will  tar  and  feather  him, 
And  so  we  will  John  Hancock.' 

"  The  similarity  of  the  first  lines  of  the  above  two  ex- 
amples, and  the  term  '  feather'  in  the  third  line,  seem  to 
mark  in  the  latter  some  knowledge  of  the  former  precedent. 
As,  however,  other  writers  have  confirmed  their  early 
knowledge  of  ( Lydia  Locket,'  such  as, 

"  <Lydy  Locket  lost  her  pocket 
In  a  rainy  shower,'  &c., 

we  seem  led  to  the  choice  of  reconciling  them  severally 
with  each  other.  We  conclude,  therefore,  that  the  Cava- 
liers, when  they  originally  composed  Yankee  Doodle/ 
may  have  set  it  to  the  jig-tune  of  '  Lydia  Fisher/  to  make 
it  the  more  offensive  to  the  Puritans.  In  this  view  it  was 
even  possible  for  the  British  officer  at  Albany,  in  1755,  as 
a  man  skilled  in  music,  to  have  before  heard  of  the  old 
Yankee  Doodle/  and  to  have  renewed  it  on  that  occasion. 
That  the  air  was  uniformly  deemed  a  good  retort  on 
British  royalists,  we  must  be  confirmed  in  from  the  fact 
that  it  was  played  by  us  at  the  battle  of  Lexington  when 
repelling  the  foe,  again  at  the  surrender  of  Burgoyne, 
and  finally  at  Yorktown  surrender,  when  Lafayette,  who 
ordered  the  tune,  meant  it  as  a  retort  on  an  intended 
affront." 

The  following  is  the  first  verse  in  the  original  American 
Yankee  Doodle  song : — 

"Yankee  Doodle,  keep  it  up, 

Do  it  neat  and  handy : 
The  boy  to  flog  the  British  troops 
Is  Yankee  Doodle  Dandy." 


172  HAIL  COLUMBIA. 

HAIL  COLUMBIA. 

The  following  is  Judge  Hopkinson's  own  account  of  the 
origin  of  "  Hail  Columbia :" — 

"This  song  was  written  in  the  summer  of  1798,  when 
a  war  with  France  was  thought  to  be  inevitable,  Congress 
being  then  in  session  in  Philadelphia,  deliberating  upon 
that  important  subject,  and  acts  of  hostility  having  act- 
ually occurred.  About  that  time  a  young  man  by  the 
name  of  Fox,  attached  to  the  Chestnut  Street  Theatre,  was 
getting  up  some  attraction  for  his  benefit.  I  had  known 
him  when  at  school.  On  this  acquaintance  he  called  on 
me  on  Saturday  afternoon, — his  benefit  being  announced 
for  the  following  Monday.  He  said  there  were  no  boxes 
taken,  and  his  prospect  was  that  he  should  suffer  a  loss 
instead  of  receiving  a  benefit  from  his  performance,  but 
that  if  he  could  get  a  patriotic  song  adapted  to  the  tune 
of  the  '  President's  March'  (then  the  popular  air)  he  did 
not  doubt  of  a  full  house ;  that  the  poets  of  the  theatrical 
corps  had  been  trying  to  accomplish  it,  but  were  satisfied 
that  no  words  could  be  composed  to  suit  the  music  of  the 
march.  I  told  him  I  would  try  for  him.  He  came  the 
next  afternoon,  and  the  song,  such  as  it  is,  was  ready  for 
him.  It  was  announced  on  Monday  morning,  and  the 
theatre  was  crowded  to  excess,  and  so  continued,  night 
after  night,  for  the  rest  of  the  season, — the  song  being 
encored  and  repeated  many  times  each  night,  the  audience 
joining  in  the  chorus.  It  was  also  sung  at  night  in  the 
streets  by  large  assemblies  of  citizens,  including  members 
of  Congress.  The  enthusiasm  was  general,  and  the  song 
was  heard,  I  may  say,  in  every  part  of  the  United  States." 

The  President's  March  was  composed  by  Professor 
Pfyle,  and  was  played  at  Trenton  Bridge  when  Wash- 
ington passed  over  on  his  way  to  New  York  to  his  inau- 
guration. An  old  writer,  speaking  upon  this  subject, 


THE  PRESENT  AMERICAN  FLAG.  173 

says,  "I  have  also  reason  to  believe  that  the  Washing- 
ton's March  generally  known  by  that  title — I  mean  the 
one  in  the  key  of  G  major — was  composed  by  the  Hon. 
Francis  Hopkinson,  Senior,  having  seen  it  in  a  manuscript 
book  of  his,  in  his  own  handwriting,  among  other  of  his 
known  compositions." 

THE  STAR-SPANGLED  BANNER. 

Was  written  by  Francis  S.  Key,  while  on  board  one 
of  the  vessels  composing  the  British  fleet.  He  was  an 
agent  for  the  exchange  of  prisoners,  and  witnessed  in  the 
distance  the  bombardment  of  Fort  McHenry.  The  tune 
was  originally  set  to  the  song  "  To  Anacreon  in  Heaven," 
by  Dr.  Arnold. 

THE  PRESENT  AMERICAN  FLAG. 

The  first  flag  adopted  by  the  colonial  army  before  Boston 
was  a  red  flag,  with  the  mottoes,  "An  appeal  to  Heaven," 
and  "  Qui  transtulit  sustinet,"  which  was  construed  by  the 
colonists  thus : — "  God,  who  transplanted  us  hither,  will 
sustain  us."  About  this  time  also  the  floating  batteries, 
which  were  the  germ  of  the  navy  subsequently  organized, 
bore  a  flag  with  the  motto,  "Appeal  to  Heaven."  These 
flags  were  adopted  before  the  union  of  the  colonies  was 
effected.  After  that  union,  and  upon  the  organization  of 
the  army  arid  fleet,  these  flags  were  supplanted  by  one 
calculated  to  show  to  the  world  the  union  of  the  North 
American  colonies  among  themselves  and  as  an  integral 
part  of  the  British  empire,  and  as  such  demanding  the 
rights  and  liberties  of  British  subjects.  And  for  this  pur- 
pose a  flag  combining  the  crosses  of  St.  George  and  St. 
Andrew  united  (the  distinctive  emblem  of  Great  Britain), 
with  a  field  composed  of  thirteen  stripes  alternate  red  and 
white,  the  combination  of  the  flags  previously  used  in  the 
camps  and  on  the  cruises,  and  the  floating  batteries  of  the 

15* 


174  THE  PRESENT  AMERICAN  FLAG. 

colonists,  was  adopted,  and  called  the  Great  Union  flag. 
The  union  implied  both  the  union  of  the  colonies  repre- 
sented in  the  striped  field,  which  was  dependent  upon  it, 
and  the  nationality  of  those  colonies.  The  thirteen  stripes 
alternate  red  and  white,  constituting  the  field  of  the  flag, 
represented  the  body  of  that  union,  the  numbers  that  com- 
posed it,  as  well  as  the  union  of  the  flags  which  had  pre- 
ceded this  Great  Union  flag.  The  colors  of  these  stripes, 
alternate  red  and  white,  indicated  on  the  part  of  the 
colonies  thus  represented  as  united  the  defiance  to  op- 
pression, symbolized  by  the  red  color  of  the  flag  of  the 
army  and  the  red  field  of  the  Continental  cruisers,  with 
the  purity  implied  by  the  white  flag  of  the  floating  batteries, 
of  which  the  motto  was,  "Appeal  to  Heaven."*  These 
flags  of  the  colonies  and  this  Great  Union  flag  gave  place 
in  turn  to  the  flag  of  the  United  States,  which  is  thus 
described  in  the  following  resolution  of  Congress,  passed 
June  14,  1777  :— 

"Resolved,  That  the  flag  of  the  thirteen  United  States 
be  thirteen  stripes  alternate  red  and  white;  that  the  union 
be  thirteen  stars,  white  in  a  blue  field,  representing  a  new 
constellation." 

From  the  above  it  appears  that  the  only  alteration  made 
from  the  Great  Union  flag  was  the  substitution  of  a  union 
of  stars  representing  "  a  new  constellation,"  in  place  of  the 
old  union  of  the  British  crosses ;  and  the  question  is,  what 
is  the  meaning  of  the  "  new  constellation,"  and  is  there 
any  constellation  which  represents  union?  The  answer  is, 
that  the  constellation  Lyra  is  of  this  character ;  for,  accord- 

*  In  1776  was  adopted  the  standard  to  be  used  by  the  commander-in- 
chief  of  the  American  navy,  "being  a  yellow  field,  with  a  lively  repre- 
sentation of  a  rattlesnake  in  the  middle,  in  the  attitude  of  striking;" 
underneath  were  the  words,  "Don't  tread  on  me" 

The  same  year  the  cruisers  of  the  colony  of  Massachusetts  hoisted  a 
white  flag,  with  a  green  pine-tree  and  the  motto,  "Appeal  to  Heaven." 


CONGRESS.  175 

ing  to  classical  authority,  the  Lyra  was  the  symbol  of 
harmony  and  unity  among  men.  The  constellation  Lyra 
is  a  time-honored  emblem  of  union,  and  because  it  was  so 
it  gave  to  our  forefathers  the  idea  of  the  stars  now  on  our 
flag,  while  the  stripes  have  originated  as  we  have  men- 
tioned. May  the  Stars  and  the  Stripes  ever  "wave  over 
the  land  of  the  free  and  the  home  of  the  brave,"  and  may 
the  United  States  ever  be  among  the  nations  of  the  earth 
a  constellation  like  Lyra,  which  is  said  to  "whirl  in  har- 
mony and  unity  along  the  immense  orb  of  the  revolving 
world,  and  to  lead  all  the  other  stars." 

CONGRESS. 

Previous  to  the  Revolution,  and  during  the  war,  the 
seat  of  government,  or  points  of  meeting  of  Congress, 
were  at  such  places  as  convenience  suggested  or  the  vicis- 
situdes of  war  allowed.  The  first  Congress  under  the 
present  Constitution  met  in  New  York,  on  the  4th  of 
March,  1789.  George  Washington  was  inaugurated  Pre- 
sident before  this  body,  John  Adams  Vice-President. 
F.  A.  Muhlenberg,  of  Pennsylvania,  was  the  Speaker  of 
the  House. 

The  following  are  the  places  at  which  the  Continental 
Congress  met  from  1774  to  the  adoption  of  the  Constitu- 
tion, in  1789  :— 

At  Philadelphia,  1774,  September  5. 

At  Baltimore,  1776,  December  20. 

At  Philadelphia,  1777,  March  4. 

At  Lancaster,  1777,  September  27. 

At  York,  Pennsylvania,  1777,  September  30. 

At  Philadelphia,  1778,  July  2. 

At  Princeton,  1783,  June  30. 

At  Annapolis,  1783,  November  26. 

At  Trenton,  1784,  November  1. 

At  New  York,  1785,  January  11. 


17G  THE  CONTINENTAL  CONGRESS. 

From  which  time  New  York  continued  to  be  the  place 
of  meeting  until  the  adoption  of  the  Constitution.  From 
1781  to  1788,  Congress  met  annually  (on  the  first  Mon- 
day in  November),  pursuant  to  the  Articles  of  Confedera- 
tion adopted  June  9,  1778. 

The  first  Congress  under  the  Constitution  met  in  New 
York  on  the  4th  of  March,  1789.  The  second  session  of 
the  same  Congress  met  at  New  York  in  January,  1790, 
at  which  session  the  permanent  seat  of  government  was 
fixed  in  the  District  of  Columbia,  and  the  temporary  seat 
moved  from  New  York  to  Philadelphia.  The  third  ses- 
sion of  the  First  Congress  was  held  at  Philadelphia,  De- 
cember, 1790,  where  it  continued  until  December,  1800, 
when  Congress  met  for  the  first  time  in  Washington. 

The  following  table,  in  connection  with  the  names  of 
the  postmaster-generals,  furnishes  a  complete  panoramic 
view  of  the  chief  officers  of  the  United  States  Government 
from  1774  to  1864.* 

THE  CONTINENTAL   CONGRESS  BEFORE  *THE  REVO- 
LUTION. 

FIRST  CONGRESS,  Sept.  6,  1774.  Peyton  Randolph,  of  Virginia,  Presi- 
dent. Born  in  Virginia,  in  1726,  died  at  Philadelphia,  Oct.  22, 1785. 
Charles  Thomson,  of  Pennsylvania,  Secretary.  Born  in  Ireland,  in 
1730,  died  in  Pennsylvania,  Aug.  16, 1824.  This  patriot  was  Secretary 
of  all  the  Congresses  in  session  during  the  Revolution,  and  until 
March  3,  1789. 

SECOND  CONGRESS,  May  10,  1775,  Peyton  Randolph,  President.  Re- 
signed May  24,  1775. 

John  Hancock,  of  Massachusetts,  elected  his  successor.  He  was  born 
at  Quincy,  Mass.,  A.D.  1737,  died  Oct.  8, 1793.  He  was  President  of 
Congress  until  October,  1777. 

Henry  Laurens,  of  South  Carolina,  President  from  Nov.  1,  1777,  to 

*  The  author  is  indebted  for  the  chief  sources  of  information  con- 
tained in  this  table,  to  that  admirable  and  useful  annual  entitled  "The 
Old  Franklin  Almanac,"  a  title  as  modest  as  its  contents  are  useful  and 
instructing.  It  should  be  found  in  every  house. 


UNDER  THE  CONSTITUTION.  Ill 

Dec.  1778.     He  was  born  at  Charleston,  S.  C.,  A.D.  1724,  died  in 

South  Carolina,  Dec.  1792. 
John  Jay,  of  New  York,  President  from  Dec.  10,  1778,  to  Sept..  27, 

1779.     He  was  born  in  New  York  City,  Dec.  12,  1745,  died  in  New 

York,  May  17,  1829. 
Samuel  Huntingdon,  of  Connecticut,  President  from  Sept.  28,  1779, 

until  July  10,  1781.     He  was  born  in  Connecticut,  in  1732,  died  1796. 
Thos.  McKean,  of  Pa.,  President  from  July,  1781,  until  Nov.  5,  1781. 

He  was  born  in  Pennsylvania,  March  19,  1734,  died  at  Philadelphia, 

June  24,  1817. 
John  Hanson,  of  Md.,  President  from  Nov.  5,  1781,  to  Nov.  4,  1782. 

He  was  born ,  died  1783. 

Elias  Boudinot,  of  N.  J.,  President  from  Nov.  4,  1782,  until  Feb.  4, 

1783.     He  was  born  at  Philadelphia,  May  2,  1740,  died  1824. 
Thomas  Mifflin,  of  Pennsylvania,  President  from  February  4,  1783,  to 

November  30,  1784.     Born  at  Philadelphia,  1744,  died  in  the  same 
place,    January  21,  1800. 
Richard  Henry  Lee,  of  Virginia,  President  from  November  30,  1784, 

to  November  23,  1785.     He  was  born  in  Virginia,  A.D.  1732,  died 

1794. 
John  Hancock,  of  Massachusetts,  President  from  November  23,  1785, 

to  June  6,  1786. 
Nathaniel  Gorham,  of  Massachusetts,  President  from  June  6,  1786,  to 

February  2,  1787.     He  was  born  at  Charlestown,   Massachusetts, 

A.D.  1738,  died  June  11,  1796. 
Arthur  St.  Clair,  of  Pennsylvania,  President  from  February  2,  1787, 

to  January  28,  1788.     He  was  born  in  Edinburgh,  Scotland, , 

died  in  1818. 
Cyrus  Griffin,  of  Virginia,  President  from  January  28,  1788,  to  the  end 

of  the  Congress  under  the  Confederation,  March  3,  1789.     He  was 

born  in  England,  A.D.  1748,  died  in  Virginia,  A.D.  1810. 

UNDER  THE  CONSTITUTION. 

1789  to  1793. 
George  Washington,  of  Virginia,  inaugurated   as   President  of   the 

United  States,  April  30,  '1789.     He  was  born  upon  Wakefield  estate, 

Virginia,  February  22  (llth,  Old  Style),  1732,  died  at  Mount  Vernon, 

December  14,  1799. 
John  Adams,   of    Massachusetts,  Vice-President.     Born  at  Braintree, 

Massachusetts,   October  19,  1735,  died  July  4,  1826,  near  Quincy, 

Massachusetts. 
ELECTORAL  VOTE — George  Washington,  69.     John  Adams,  34.     John 

Jay,  New  York,  9.     R.  H.  Harrison,  Maryland,  6.     John  Rutledge, 


178  UNDER  THE  CONSTITUTION. 

South  Carolina,  6.  John  Hancock,  Massachusetts,  4.  George  Clin- 
ton, New  York,  3.  Samuel  Huntingdon,  Connecticut,  2.  John  Mil- 
ton, Georgia,  2.  James  Armstrong,  Georgia,  1.  Edward  Telfair, 
Georgia,  1.  Benjamin  Lincoln,  Massachusetts,  1. — Total,  69.  Ten 
States  voted, — Rhode  Island,  New  York,  and  North  Carolina  not 
voting,  not  having  ratified  the  Constitution  in  time. 

1793  to  1797. 

George  Washington,  President,  inaugurated  March  4,  1793. 
John  Adams,  Vice-President. 
ELECTORAL  VOTE — George  Washington,  132.    John  Adams,  77.    George 

Clinton,  50.     Thomas  Jefferson,  Virginia,  4.     Aaron  Burr,  New  York, 

1.— Total,  132.     Fifteen  States  voted. 

1797  to  1801. 

John  Adams,  President,  inaugurated  March  4,  1797. 

Thomas  Jefferson,  of  Virginia,  Vice-President.  Born  at  Shadwell, 
Virginia,  April  13,  1743,  died  at  Monticello,  Virginia,  July  4,  1826. 

ELECTORAL  VOTE — John  Adams,  71.  Thomas  Jefferson,  68.  Thomas 
Pinckney,  South  Carolina,  59.  Aaron  Burr,  30.  Samuel  Adams, 
Massachusetts,  15.  Oliver  Ellsworth,  Connecticut,  11.  George 
Clinton,  7.  John  Jay,  5.  James  Iredell,  North  Carolina,  3.  George 
Washington,  2.  John  Henry,  Maryland,  2.  S.  Johnson,  North 
Carolina,  2.  Charles  C.  Pinckney,  South  Carolina,  1. — Total,  138. 
Sixteen  States  voting. 

1801  to  1805. 

Thomas  Jefferson,  President,  inaugurated  March  4,  1801. 

Aaron  Burr,  of  New  York,  Vice-President.  Born  at  Newark,  N.  J. 
February  6,  1756,  died  at  Staten  Island,  New  York,  September  14, 
1836. 

ELECTORAL  VOTE — Thomas  Jefferson,  73.  Aaron  Burr,  73.  John 
Adams,  65.  Charles  C.  Pinckney,  64.  John  Jay,  1. — Total,  138. 
Sixteen  States  voting. 

There  was  no  election  by  the  Electoral  colleges,  and  the  election  was 
carried  into  the  House  of  Representatives,  when,  upon  the  thirty- 
sixth  ballot,  it  appeared  that  ten  States  voted  for  Jefferson,  four 
States  for  Aaron  Burr,  and  two  States  in  blank.  Whereupon  Jeffer- 
son was  declared  elected  President,  and  Burr  Vice-President.  After 
this  the  Constitution  was  amended,  so  that  the  Vice-President  was 
voted  for  separately  as  a  distinct  oflice,  instead  of  being  the  second 
on  the  vote  for  President. 


UNDER  THE  CONSTITUTION.  179 

1805  to  1809. 

Thomas  Jefferson,  President,  inaugurated  March  4,  1805. 

George  Clinton,  of  New  York,  Vice-President.  He  was  born  in  Ulster 
county,  New  York,  A.D.  1739,  died  in  Washington,  D.  C.,  April  20, 
1812. 

ELECTORAL  VOTE — For  President,  Thomas  Jefferson,  162 ;  Charles  Cotes- 
worth  Pinckney,  14. — Total,  176.  Seven  States  voting. 

For  Vice-President,  George  Clinton,  162;  Rufus  King,  New  York,  14. 

1809  to  1813. 

James  Madison,  of  Virginia,  President,  inaugurated  March  4,  1809. 
He  was  born  March  16,  1751,  in  Prince  George  county,  Virginia,  and 
died  at  Montpelier,  Virginia,  June  28,  1836. 

George  Clinton,  of  New  York,  Vice-President,  until  his  death,  April 
20,  1812. 

ELECTORAL  VOTE — For  President,  James  Madison,  122;  George  Clin- 
ton, 6;  C.  C.  Pinckney,  47.— Total,  175.  Seventeen  States  voting. 

For  Vice-President,  George  Clinton,  113;  James  Madison,  3;  James 
Monroe,  Virginia,  3 ;  John  Langdon,  New  Hampshire,  9 ;  Rufus 
King,  New  York,  47. 

1813  to  1817. 

James  Madison,  of  Virginia,  President.  There  is  no  record  in  the 
Journals  of  Congress  of  his  having  taken  the  oath  of  office. 

Elbridge  Gerry,  of  Massachusetts,  Vice-President,  until  his  death, 
November  23,  1814.  He  was  born  at  Marblehead,  Massachusetts, 
July  17,  1744,  and  died  at  Washington,  D.  C. 

ELECTORAL  VOTE — For  President,  James  Madison,  128  ;  De  Witt  Clinton, 
New  York,  89.— Total,  217.  Eighteen  States  voting. 

For  Vice-President,  Elbridge  Gerry,  131 ;  Jared  Ingersoll,  Pennsyl- 
vania, 86. 

1817  to  1821. 
James   Monroe,  of  Virginia,  President,  inaugurated   March   4,  1817. 

He  was  born  in  Westmoreland  county,  Virginia,  A.D.  1759,  died  in 

New  York,  July  4,  1831. 
Daniel  D.  Tompkins,  of  New  York,  Vice-President.     Born  June  21, 

1774,  at  Fox  Meadows,  New  York,  died  at  Staten  Island,  June  11, 

1825. 
ELECTORAL  VOTE — For  President,  James  Monroe,  183 ;  Rufus  King,  34 

— Total,  221.     Nineteen  States  voting. 
For   Vice-President,  Daniel  D.    Tompkins,   183 ;    John  Eager  Howard, 

Maryland,  22 ;  James  Ross,  Pennsylvania,  5 ;  John  Marshall,  Vir- 
ginia, 4 ;  Robert  Goodloe  Harper,  Maryland,  3. 


180  UNDER  THE  CONSTITUTION. 

1821  to  1825. 

James  Monroe,  President.  There  is  no  record  in  the  Journals  of  Con- 
gress of  his  having  taken  the  oath  of  office. 

Daniel  D.  Tompkins,  Vice-President. 

ELECTORAL  VOTE — For  President,  James  Monroe,  231;  John  Quincy 
Adams,  Massachusetts,  1.— Total,  232.  Twenty-four  States  voting. 

For  Vice-President,  Daniel  D.  Tompkins,  218 ;  Richard  Stockton,  New 
Jersey,  8 ;  Robert  G.  Harper,  1 ;  Richard  Rush,  Pennsylvania,  1 ;  Daniel 

Rodney,  Delaware,  1. 

1825  to  1829. 

John  Quincy  Adams,  of  Massachusetts,  President,  inaugurated  March 

4,  1825.     He  was  born  at  Quincy,  Massachusetts,  July  11,  1767,  died 

at  Washington  City,  February  23,  1848. 
John  Caldwell  Calhoun,  of  South  Carolina,  Vice-President.     Born  in 

Abbeville  district,  South  Carolina,  March  18,  1782,  died  March  31, 

1850,  in  Washington  City. 
POPULAR  VOTE — For  President,  John  Quincy  Adams,  105,321 ;  Andrew 

Jackson,  Tennessee,  152,899;  William  H.  Crawford,  Georgia,  47,265; 

Henry  Clay,  Kentucky,  47,087. 
ELECTORAL  VOTE — For  President,  Andrew  Jackson,  99 ;    John  Quincy 

Adams,  84 ;  William  H.  Crawford,  41 ;  Henry  Clay,  37.— Total,  261. 

Twenty-four  States  voting. 
There  being  no  choice  by  the  Electoral  colleges,  the  vote  was  taken 

into  the  House  of  Representatives,  when  upon  ballot  it  appeared  that 

Adams  had  received  the  vote  of  thirteen  States,  Jackson  seven,  and 

Crawford  four.     John  Quincy  Adams  was  therefore  declared  elected 

President. 
For  Vice-President,  the  Electoral  vote  was   John  C.  Calhoun,   South 

Carolina,  182 ;    Nathan  Sanford,  New  York,  30 ;    Nathaniel  Macon, 

Georgia,  24 ;  Andrew  Jackson,  Tennessee,  13 ;   Martin  Van  Buren, 

New  York,  9 ;  Henry  Clay,  Kentucky,  2. 

1829  to  1833. 

Andrew  Jackson,  of  Tennessee,  President,  inaugurated  March  4,  1829. 
He  was  born  in  Mecklenburg  county,  North  Carolina,  near  the  Wax- 
haw  Settlements,  which  are  in  South  Carolina,  March  15,  1767,  died 
at  the  Hermitage,  Tennessee,  June  8,  1845. 

John  Caldwell  Calhoun,  Vice-President,  until  his  resignation,  Decem- 
ber 28,  1832. 

POPULAR  VOTE — For  President,  Andrew  Jackson,  650,028 ;  John  Quincy 
Adams,  512,158. 

ELECTORAL  VOTE — For  President,  Andrew  Jackson,  178;  John  Quincy 
Adams,  83. — Total,  261.  Twenty-four  States  voting. 

For  Vice-President,  John  C.  Calhoun,  171 ;  Richard  Rush,  Pennsylvania, 
83 ;  William  Smith,  South  Carolina,  7. 


UNDER  THE  CONSTITUTION.  181 

1833  to  1837. 

Andrew  Jackson,  President,  inaugurated  March  4,  1833. 

Martin  Van  Buren,  of  New  York,  Vice-President.  He  was  born  at 
Kinderhook,  New  York,  December  5,  1782.  Died,  July  24,  1864. 

POPULAR  VOTE — For  President,  Andrew  Jackson,  687,502 ;  Henry  Clay, 
550,189 ;  opposition  (John  Floyd,  Virginia,  and  William  Wirt,  Mary- 
land), 33,108.' 

ELECTORAL  VOTE — For  President,  Andrew  Jackson,  219;  Henry  Clay,  49; 
John  Floyd,  11;  William  Wirt,  7.— Total,  288.  Twenty-four  States 
voting. 

For  Vice-President,  Martin  Van  Buren,  189 ;  John  Sergeant,  Pennsyl- 
vania, 49 ;  William  Wilkins,  Pennsylvania,  30 ;  Henry  Lee,  Massa- 
chusetts, 11 ;  Amos  Ellmaker,  Pennsylvania,  7. 

1837  to  1841. 

Martin  Van  Buren,  President,  inaugurated  March  4,  1837. 

Richard  M.  Johnson,  of  Kentucky,  Vice-President.  He  was  born  in 
1780 ;  died  November  19,  1850. 

POPULAR  VOTE — For  President,  Martin  Van  Buren,  762,149  ;  opposition 
(William  H.  Harrison,  Hugh  L.  White,  Daniel  Webster,  W.  P.  Man- 
gum),  736,736. 

ELECTORAL  VOTE — For  President,  Martin  Van  Buren,  170;  William  H. 
Harrison,  Ohio,  73;  Hugh  L.  White,  Tennessee,  26;  Daniel  Webster, 
Massachusetts,  14;  W.  P.  Mangum,  11.— -Total,  294.  Twenty-six 
States  voting. 

For  Vice-President,  Richard  M.  Johnson,  Kentucky,  147 ;  Francis 
Granger,  New  York,  77 ;  John  Tyler,  Virginia,  47 ;  William  Smith, 
Alabama,  23. 

1841  to  1845. 

William  Henry  Harrison,  of  Ohio,  President  until  his  death  at  Wash- 
ington, April  4,  1841.  He  was  inaugurated  March  4,  1841.  He  was 
born  in  Berkeley  county,  Virginia,  February  9,  1773. 

John  Tyler,  of  Virginia,  Vice-President.  He  was  born,  April,  1790,  at 
Greenway,  Charles  City  county,  Virginia.  Died,  January  18,  1863. 

John  Tyler,  of  Virginia,  became  President  by  the  death  of  William  H. 
Harrison.  He  took  the  oath  of  office  April  6,  1841. 

POPULAR  VOTE  (November,  1840) — For  President,  William  Henry  Har- 
rison, 1,274,783;  Martin  Van  Buren,  1,128,702;  James  G.  Birney, 
New  York  (Abolition),  7609. 

ELECTORAL  VOTE — For  President,  William  Henry  Harrison,  234 ;  Martin 
Van  Buren,  60.— Total,  294.  Twenty-six  States  voting. 

For  Vice-President,  John  Tyler,  234 ;  Richard  M.  Johnson,  48 ;  L.  W. 
Tazewell,  South  Carolina,  11 ;  James  K.  Polk,  Tennessee,  1. 

16 


182  UNDER  THE  CONSTITUTION. 

1845  to  1849 

James  Knox  Polk,  of  Tennessee,  President,  inaugurated  March  4,  1845. 
He  was  born  in  Mecklenburg  county,  North  Carolina,  November  2, 
1795;  died  at  Nashville,  Tennessee,  June  15,  1849. 

George  Mifflin  Dallas,  of  Pennsylvania,  Vice-President.  Born  in  Phila- 
delphia, July  10,  1792. 

POPULAR  VOTE — For  President,  James  K.  Polk,  1,335,834;  Henry  Clay, 
1,297,033  ;  James  G.  Birney,  62,270. 

ELECTORAL  VOTE — For  President,  James  K.  Polk,  170 ;  Henry  Clay,  105. 
— Total,  275.  Twenty-six  States  voting. 

For  Vice-President,  George  M.  Dallas,  170;  Theodore  Frelinghuysen,  of 
New  Jersey,  106. 

1849  to  1853. 

Zachary  Taylor,  of  Louisiana,  President,  inaugurated  March  4,  1849. 
Born  in  Virginia,  A.D.  1784;  died  in  Washington  City,  July  9,  1850. 

Millard  Fillmore,  of  New  York,  Vice-President.  Born  in  Locke  town- 
ship, Cayuga  county,  New  York,  January  7,  1800. 

Millard  Fillmore,  President  after  the  death  of  Zachary  Taylor,  July  9, 
1850.  He  took  the  oath  of  office  July  10,  1850. 

POPULAR  VOTE— For  President,  Zachary  Taylor,  1,362,031;  Lewis  Cass, 
of  Michigan,  1,222,455 ;  Martin  Van  Buren  (Free  Soil),  291,455. 

ELECTORAL  VOTE — For  President,  Zachary  Taylor,  163;  Lewis  Cass,  127. 
—Total,  290.  Thirty  States  voting. 

For  Vice-President,  Millard  Fillmore,  163;  William  0.  Butler,  Ken- 
tucky, 127. 

1853  to  1857. 

Franklin  Pierce,  of  New  Hampshire,  President,  inaugurated  March  5, 
1853.  He  was  born  at  Hillsborough,  New  Hampshire,  November 
23,  1804. 

William  R.  King,  of  Alabama,  Vice-President.  He  was  born  in  North 
Carolina,  April  7,  1786 ;  died  at  Cahawba,  Alabama,  April  18,  1853. 

POPULAR  VOTE — For  President,  Franklin  Pierce,  1,590,490;  Winfield 
Scott,  1,378,589;  John  C.  Hale,  New  Hampshire  (Abolition),  157,296. 

ELECTORAL  VOTE — For  President,  Franklin  Pierce,  254 ;  Winfield  Scott, 
of  New  Jersey,  42. — Total,  296.  Thirty-one  States  voting. 

For  Vice-President,  Vi  illiam  R.  King,  254 ;  William  A.  Graham,  of  North 
Carolina,  42. 

1857  to  1861. 

James  Buchanan,  of  Pennsylvania,  President.  He  was  born  at  Stony 
Batter,  Franklin  county,  Pennsylvania,  April  22,  1791. 

John  C.  Breckenridge,  of  Kentucky,  Vice-President.  Born  near  Lex- 
ington, Kentucky,  January  21,  1821. 

POPULAR  VOTE — For  President,  James  Buchanan  (Democratic),  1,832,232; 


GOVERNORS  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.  183 

John  C.  Fremont,  California  (Republican),  1,341,514;  Millard  Fill- 
more,  New  York  (American),  874,707. 

ELECTORAL  VOTE — For  President,  James  Buchanan,  174 ;  John  C.  Fr6- 
mont,  109;  Millard  Fillmore,  8.— Total,  291.  Thirty-one  States 
voting. 

For  Vice-President,  John  C.  Breckenridge,  174;  William  L.  Dayton,  New 
Jersey,  109;  A.  J.  Donelson,  Tennessee,  8;  total,  291. 

1861  to  1865. 

Abraham  Lincoln,  of  Illinois,  President,  inaugurated  March  4,  1861. 

He  was   born  near   Muldraugh's   Hill,   Hardin  county,  Kentucky, 

February,  1809. 
Hannibal  Hamlin,  of  Maine,  Vice-President.     He  was  born  at  Paris, 

Oxford  county,  Maine,  August  27,  1809. 
POPULAR  VOTE — For  President,  Abraham  Lincoln  (Republican),  1,857, 610; 

Stephen  A.  Douglas,  of  Illinois  (Democratic),   1,365,976;    John  C. 

Breckenridge,  of  Kentucky  (Democratic),  847,953;  John  Bell,  of 

Tennessee  (Constitutional  Union),  590,631. 
ELECTORAL  VOTE — For  President,   Abraham    Lincoln,    180;    John   C. 

Breckenridge,  72 ;  John  Bell,  39 ;  Stephen  A.  Douglas,  12.— Total, 

291.     Thirty-three  States  voting. 
For  Vice-President,  Hannibal  Hamlin,  Maine,  180 ;  Joseph  Lane,  Oregon, 

72;    Edward  Everett,    Massachusetts,   39;    Herschel  V.   Johnson, 

Georgia,  12. 

As  our  postal  history,  so  far  as  the  States  are  concerned, 
is  limited  to  our  own  State,  it  may  not  be  out  of  place 
here  to  introduce  the  following  table  containing  the  names 
of  the 

GOVERNORS  OF  PENNSYLVANIA, 

more,  however,  as  being  useful  for  future  reference  rather 
than  to  its  connection  with  our  subject : — 

1682  to  1863. 

1682,  October.  William  Penn  (Proprietary),  acted  as  Governor  until 
August,  1684. 

Thomas  Lloyd,  President  until  December,  1688. 
Captain  John  Blackwell,  Deputy-Governor  to  1690. 
President  and  Council  to  April  26,  1693. 


184  GOVERNORS  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

Benjamin  Fletcher,  Deputy-Governor  to  September,  1692. 

William  Markham,  Deputy-Governor  to  December  3,  1696. 

William  Penn  again  acted  as  Governor  to  November  1,  1701. 

Andrew  Hamilton,  Deputy-Governor  to  February,  1703. 

Edward  Shippen,  President  of  Council  to  February,  1704. 

John  Evans,  Deputy-Governor  to  February,  1709. 

Charles  Gookin,  Deputy-Governor  to  March,  1717. 

Sir  William  Keith,  Bart.,  Deputy-Governor  to  June,  1727. 

Patrick  Gordon,  Deputy-Governor  to  June,  1736. 

James  Logan,  President  of  Council  to  June,  1738. 

George  Thomas,  Deputy-Governor  to  June,  1748. 

James  Hamilton,  Deputy-Governor  to  October,  1754. 

Robert  Hunter  Morris,  Deputy-Governor  to  August  19,  1756. 

William  Denny,  Deputy-Governor  to  November,  1759 

James  Hamilton,  Deputy-Governor  to  October,  1763 

John  Penn,  son  of  Richard  Penn,  Deputy-Governor  to  May  6,  1771. 

Richard  Penn,  Governor  to  August,  1771. 

John  Penn  (second  time),  Governor  to  September,  1776. 

Thomas  Wharton,  Jr.,  President  of  Executive  Council  to  October, 
1777. 

Joseph  Reed,  President  to  November,  1781. 

William  Moore,  President  to  November,  1782. 

John  Dickinson,  President  to  October,  1785. 

Benjamin  Franklin,  President  to  October,  1788. 

Thomas  Mifflin,  President  to  the  adoption  of  the  new  Constitution  in 
1790. 

UNDER  THE   CONSTITUTION  OF   1790. 

1790.  Thomas  Mifflin 27,725 

Arthur  St.  Clair 2,802 

Whole  number 30,527 

1793.  Thomas  Mifflin 19,590 

F.  A.  Muhlenberg 10,700 

Whole  number 30,290 

1796.  Thomas  Mifflin 30,029 

F.  A.  Muhlenberg 10,011 

Whole  number 40,040 

1799.  Thomas  McKean 37,244 

James  Ross 22,643 

Whole  number 59,887 

1802.  Thomas  McKean 47,879 

James  Ross 17,037 

Whole  number 64,916 


GOVERNORS  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.  185 

1805.  Thomas  McKean 48,483 

Simon  Snyder 43,644 

Whole  number 82,127 

1808.  Simon  Snyder 67,975 

James  Ross 37,575 

John  Spayd 4,006 

Whole  number 109,556 

1811.  Simon  Snyder 52,319 

No  opposition. 

Whole  number 52,319 

1814.  Simon  Snyder 51,099 

Isaac  Wayne 29,566 

Whole  number 80,665 

1817.  William  Findlay 66,331 

Joseph  Heister 59,273 

Whole  number 125,604 

1820.  Joseph  Heister 67,905 

William  Findlay 66,300 

Whole  number 134,205 

1823.  John  A.  Shultze 89,968 

Andrew  Gregg 64,221 

Whole  number 154,189 

1826.  John  A.  Shultze 72,710 

John  Sergeant 1,174 

Whole  number 73,884 

1829.  George  Wolf 78,219 

Joseph  Ritner 61,776 

Whole  number 129,995 

1832.  George  Wolf 91,235 

Joseph  Ritner 88,186 

Whole  number 179,421 

1835.  Joseph  Ritner 94,023 

George  Wolf 65,804 

H.  A.  Muhlenberg 40,586 

Whole  number -     200,413 

1838.  David  R.  Porter 131,496 

Joseph  Ritner 121,389 

Whole  number 252,885 

1841.  David  R.  Porter 136,335 

John  Banks 113,374 

Whole  number 249,709 

1844.  Francis  R.  Shunk 160,403 

Joseph  Markle 156,114 

Whole  number 316,517 

16* 


186  GOVERNORS  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

1847.  Francis  R.  Shunk 146,081 

James  Irvin 128,148 

Emanuel  C.  Reigert 11,247 

Whole  number 285,476 

1848.  W.  F.  Johnston 168,462 

Morris  Longstreth 168,192 

Whole  number 336,654 

1851.  William  Bigler 186,507 

W.  F.  Johnston 178,070 

Whole  number 364,577 

1854.  James  Pollock 204,008 

William  Bigler 167,001 

Whole  number 371,009 

1857.  William  F.  Packer 188,890 

David  Wilmot 146,147 

Isaac  Hazlehurst 28,100 

Whole  number 363,137 

1860.  Andrew  G.  Curtin 262,403 

Henry  D.  Foster 230,239 

Whole  number 492,642 

1863.  Andrew  G.  Curtin .' 269,496 

G.  W.  Woodward 254,171 

Whole  number 523,667 


POSTMASTERS.  187 


XI. 


HAVING  brought  the  postal  history  of  the  colonies  up 
to  the  time  Richard  Bache  succeeded  Benjamin  Franklin 
(November,  1776),  and  whose  dismissal  gave  the  latter 
some  grounds  of  complaint,  if  not  censure,  against  the 
appointment  of  Ebenezer  Hazard,  who  had  the  office  under 
President  Washington,  we  will  carry  out  the  object  of 
these  tables,  by  continuing  the  list  of  postmaster-generals 
from  that  period. 

SAMUEL  OSGOOD.  —  This  gentleman  was  born  at  An- 
dover,  Massachusetts,  February  14,  1748;  graduated  at 
Harvard  College  in  1770;  a  member  of  the  Massachusetts 
Legislature,  and  also  of  the  board  of  war,  and  subse- 
quently an  aid  to  General  Ward;  in  1779,  a  member  of 
the  Massachusetts  Constitutional  Convention;  in  1781, 
appointed  a  member  of  Congress;  in  1785,  first  commis- 
sioner of  the  treasury;  and  September  26,  1789,  post- 
master-general. He  was  afterwards  naval  officer  of  the 
port  of  New  York,  and  died  in  that  city,  August  12,  1813. 

Early  in  the  first  session  of  the  Second  Congress  two 
important  subjects  of  a  national  character  received  the 
attention  of  the  representatives  of  the  people:  one  was 
establishing  a  national  mint,  and  the  other  the  organization 
of  the  postal  system. 

The  establishing  of  a  mint,  however,  was  delayed,  and 
no  special  action  was  taken  in  that  direction  until  1790, 
when  Mr.  Jefferson,  then  Secretary  of  State,  urged  the 
matter  upon  the  attention  of  Congress.  In  1792,  April 


188  POSTMASTERS. 

2,  laws  were  enacted  for  the  establishment  of  a  mint.  It 
did  not,  however,  go  into  full  operation  until  1795. 

The  first  mint  was  located  in  Philadelphia,  and  remained 
the  sole  issuer  of  coin  in  the  United  States  until  1835, 
when  a  branch  was  established  in  each  of  the  States  of 
Georgia,  North  Carolina,  and  Louisiana, — in  Charlotte, 
Dahlonega,  and  New  Orleans.  These  three  branches  went 
into  operation  in  the  years  1837-38. 

A  bill  for  the  organization  of  a  post-office  system  was 
passed  in  1792,  simultaneously  with  that  for  establishing 
the  mint. 

Very  soon  after  the  commencement  of  the  first  session 
of  Congress  a  letter  was  received  from  Ebenezer  Hazard 
(July  17,  1789),  then  postmaster-general  under  the  old 
Confederation,  suggesting  the  importance  of  some  new 
regulations  for  that  department.  A  bill  for  the  temporary 
establishing  of  a  post-office  was  passed  soon  afterwards. 
The  subject  was  brought  up  from  time  to  time,  until  the 
present  system  was  organized  in  1792.  The  postmaster- 
general  was  not  made  a  Cabinet-officer  until  the  first  year 
(1829)  of  President  Jackson's  administration. 

TIMOTHY  PICKERING. — Born  at  Salem,  Massachusetts, 
July  17,  1746;  graduated  in  1763;  was  colonel  of  a  regi- 
ment of  militia  at  the  age  of  nineteen,  and  marched  for 
the  seat  of  war  at  the  first  news  of  the  battle  of  Lexing- 
ton; in  1775,  was  appointed  judge  of  two  local  courts;  in 
the  fall  of  1776,  marched  to  New  Jersey  with  his  regiment; 
in  1777,  appointed  adjutant-general,  and  subsequently  a 
member  of  the  board  of  war  with  Gates  and  Mifflin ;  in 
1780  he  succeeded  Greene  as  quartermaster-general;  in 
1790  he  was  employed  in  negotiations  with  the  Indians; 
August  12,  1791,  he  was  appointed  postmaster-general; 
in  1794,  Secretary  of  War,  and  in  1795,  Secretary  of 
State;  from  1803  to  1811  he  was  senator,  and  from  1814 


POSTMASTERS.  189 

to  1817  representative  in  Congress;  died  at  Salem,  June 
29,  1829. 

JOSEPH  HABERSHAM. — Born  in  1750;  a  lieutenant- 
colonel  during  the  Revolutionary  War,  and  in  1785  a 
member  of  Congress;  appointed  postmaster-general,  Feb- 
ruary 25, 1795;  he  was  afterwards  president  of  the  United 
States  Branch  Bank  in  Savannah,  Georgia;  died  at  that 
place,  November,  1815. 

GIDEON  GRANGER. — Born  at  Suffield,  Connecticut, 
July  19,  1767;  graduated  at  Yale  College  in  1787,  and 
the  following  year  admitted  to  the  bar;  in  1793,  elected 
to  the  Connecticut  Legislature;  November  28,  1801,  ap- 
pointed postmaster-general;  retired  in  1814,  and  removed 
to  Canandaigua,  New  York;  April,  1819,  elected  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Senate  of  that  State,  but  resigned  in  1821  on 
account  of  ill  health.  During  his  service  in  that  body  he 
donated  one  thousand  acres  of  land  to  aid  the  construction 
of  the  Erie  Canal.  Died  at  Canandaigua,  December  31, 
1822. 

RETURN  JONATHAN  MEIGS. — Born  at  Middletown, 
Connecticut,  in  1765;  graduated  at  Yale  College  in  1785, 
and  subsequently  admitted  to  the  bar;  in  1788,  emigrated 
to  Marietta,  Ohio,  then  the  Northwestern  Territory;  in 
1790,  during  the  Indian  wars,  he  was  sent  by  Governor 
St.  Clair  on  a  perilous  mission  through  the  wilderness  to 
the  British  commandant  at  Detroit;  in  the  winter  of 
1802-03  he  was  elected  by  the  legislature  the  first  chief 
justice  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  new  State ;  in  Octo- 
ber, 1804,  he  was  appointed  colonel  commanding  the 
United  States  forces  in  the  upper  district  of  the  Territory 
of  Louisiana,  and  resigned  his  judgeship;  in  the  following 
year  he  was  appointed  one  of  the  United  States  judges  for 


190  POSTMASTERS. 

Louisiana;  April  2,  1807,  he  was  transferred  to  the  Ter- 
ritory of  Michigan;  in  October  following  he  resigned  his 
judgeship,  and  was  elected  Governor  of  the  State  of  Ohio, 
but  his  election  was  successfully  contested  on  the  ground 
of  non-residence.  He  was  chosen  at  the  same  session  as 
one  of  the  judges  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  State,  and 
at  the  next  session  as  United  States  Senator  for  a  vacancy 
of  one  year,  and  also  for  a  full  term.  In  1810  he  was 
again  elected  Governor  of  Ohio,  and  on  the  8th  of  Decem- 
ber resigned  his  seat  in  the  Senate;  in  1812  he  was  re- 
elected  Governor;  on  the  17th  of  March,  1814,  he  was 
appointed  postmaster-general,  which  he  resigned  in  June, 
1823.  Died  at  Marietta,  March  29,  1825. 

JOHN  McLEAN. — Born  in  Morris  county,  New  Jersey, 
March  11,  1785.  His  father  subsequently  removed  to 
Ohio,  of  which  State  the  son  continued  a  resident.  He 
labored  on  the  farm  until  sixteen  years  of  age,  when  he 
applied  himself  to  study,  and  two  years  afterwards  re- 
moved to  Cincinnati,  and  supported  himself  by  copying  in 
the  county  clerk's  office  while  he  studied  law.  In  1807 
he  was  admitted  to  the  bar;  in  1812  he  was  elected  to  Con- 
gress, and  re-elected  in  1814;  in  1816  he  was  unanimously 
elected  by  the  legislature  a  judge  of  the  Supreme  Court  of 
that  State;  in  1822  he  was  appointed  by  President  Mon- 
roe commissioner  of  the  General  Land-Office,  and  on  the 
26th  of  June,  1823,  postmaster-general;  in  1829  he  was 
appointed  as  one  of  the  justices  of  the  Supreme  Court  of 
the  United  States. 

WILLIAM  T.  BARRY. — Born  in  Fairfax  county,  Vir- 
ginia, March  18,  1780;  graduated  at  the  College  of  Wil- 
liam and  Mary.  He  was  admitted  to  the  bar,  and  in 
early  life  emigrated  to  Kentucky.  In  1828  he  was  a  candi- 
date for  Governor  of  that  State,  and  defeated  by  a  small 


POSTMASTERS.  191 

majority  after  one  of  the  most  memorable  contests  in  its 
annals;  appointed  postmaster-general  March  9,  1829;  in 
1835,  appointed  minister  plenipotentiary  to  Spain,  and 
died  at  Liverpool,  England,  on  his  way  to  Madrid. 

Mr.  Barry  was  the  first  postmaster-general  who  had  the 
honor  of  being  one  of  the  Cabinet.  Whether  such  a 
movement  has  benefited  the  postal  department  or  not  can 
only  be  ascertained  by  a  reference  to  its  records.  As  these 
present  more  the  appearance  of  political  names,  figures, 
changes,  removals,  and  a  confusion  of  all  the  elements 
which  make  up  a  party,  it  is  doubtful  if  the  public  mind 
is  prepared  to  view  the  postal  department  in  any  other 
light  than  that  of  one  of  the  revolving  political  luminaries 
of  the  country.  A  reference,  however,  to  some  statistics 
furnished  in  this  work,  and  an  occasional  reference  to  its 
not  being  a  self-sustaining  institution,  may  probably  throw 
some  light  upon  the  subject. 

We  have  avoided,  through  motives  of  nationality  rather 
than  of  choice,  any  direct  allusion  to  frauds  in  the  postal 
department.  "  When  Judge  McLean  left  the  department 
it  was,"  said  his  friends,  "in  a  thriving  condition."  Such 
was  not  the  case.  From  "The  Aurora,"  edited  by  the  late 
William  Duane,  bearing  date  January  10,  1835,  we  take 
the  following  statement: — 

"  It  would  be  a  hopeless  task  to  seek  the  qualities,  ac- 
tions, evidence  of  fitness,  or  principles  of  Mr.  McLean.  We 
know  he  was  a  member  of  Congress :  can  any  one  discover 
any  thing  which  he  did  there?  He  was  appointed  post- 
master-general to  cover  the  retreat  of  B,.  J.  Meigs,  who 
should  have  been  removed  three  years  before. 

"And  what  did  he  do  in  the  general  post-office?  Why, 
the  men  who  had  practised  the  most  enormous  abuses, 
which  had  been  proved  by  blanching  evidence  before  Con- 
gress, he  retained  in  the  prosecution  of  their  former  business. 

"The  reproach  is  no  doubt  to  be  shared  with  Congress, 


192  POSTMASTERS. 

which,  on  the  occasion  of  the  investigation  of  the  sale  of 
post-office  drafts,  suffered  the  inquiry  to  be  stifled  after 
attempts  had  been  made,  without  success,  on  some  poor 
men  to  suppress  the  truth,  and  who  were  discharged 
for  their  fidelity,  whilst  others  were  retained  whose 
memories,  like  the  memorable  Italian  delator,  was  non 
mi  ricordo  ! 

"Mr.  McLean  entered  the  general  post-office  when  it 
was  whelmed  in  abuses  and  in  debt.  Accounts  in  that 
office  had  not  been  brought  up,  or  cash  accounts  balanced, 
for  several  years ;  and,  in  fact,  no  true  account  of  the 
affairs  of  the  post-office  department  at  that  period  had 
ever  appeared. 

"  Mr.  McLean  was  a  mere  walking-stick  for  the  directors 
of  his  predecessor.  He  made  some  efforts  to  bring  up 
the  business,  and  some  laws  were  passed  to  oblige  account- 
ability; but  he  left  the  general  post-office  as  he  found  it, 
deep  in  debt, — saddling  his  successor  with  the  burden,  and 
leaving  the  system  in  such  disorder  as  to  render  it  neces- 
sary for  Mr.  Barry  to  organize  the  department  wholly 
anew,  were  it  only  to  extricate  it  from  the  hands  of  those 
men  who  had  thrown  it  all  into  confusion."* 

Mr.  Barry,  in  his  address  to  the  people,  speaking  of  the 
department  as  it  came  from  the  hands  of  Mr.  McLean  to 
him,  says, — 

"The  late  postmaster-general,  in  his  report  dated  No- 
vember 17,  1828,  shows  that,  instead  of  saving  $500,000, 
the  expenses  of  his  department  from  the  1st  of  July,  1827, 
to  the  1st  of  July,  1828,  were  upwards  of  $25,000  more 
than  all  its  revenues  for  the  same  period,  and  that  he  had 
entered  into  contracts  to  take  effect  from  the  1st  of  Janu- 

*  This  article  appeared  about  the  time  Judge  McLean  was  a  candi- 
date for  the  Presidency,  and  was  brought  out  to  bear  upon  his  success. 
There  is  no  denying  the  fact  but  what  there  was  more  truth  than  poetry 
in  the  charges. 


POSTMASTERS.  193 

ary,  1829,  which  involved  the  department  in  an  expense, 
for  the  period  of  only  six  months  from  the  1st  of  January 
to  the  1st  of  July,  1829,  of  $40,778.55  more  than  all  its 
revenue  for  the  same  time ;  and  that  the  expenses  .of  the 
department  for  the  year  commencing  the  1st  of  July,  1828, 
were  $74,714.15  more  than  its  revenues,  and  that  the 
excess  of  expenditure,  together  with  the  losses  sustained, 
had  diminished  the  finances  of  the  department  within  one 
year  to  the  amount  of  $101,266.03.  In  this  state  of  things 
I  had  no  agency.  It  was  produced  before  I  came  into 
office." 

AMOS  KENDALL. — Born  at  Dunstable,  Massachusetts, 
August  16,  1789;  graduated  at  Dartmouth  College  in 
1811;  about  the  year  1812,  removed  to  Kentucky,  and  in 
1815  was  appointed  postmaster  at  Georgetown  in  that 
State;  in  1816  he  assumed  the  editorial  charge  of  the 
"  Argus,"  published  at  Frankfort,  in  the  same  State,  which 
he  continued  until  1829,  being  most  of  the  time  State 
printer;  in  1829  he  was  appointed  fourth  auditor  of  the 
United  States  Treasury;  and  May  1,  1835,  postmaster- 
general.  He  resigned  the  latter  office  in  1840,  and  has, 
since  the  introduction  of  the  electric  telegraph,  been  mainly 
employed  in  connection  with  enterprises  for  its  operation. 
He  is  yet  living. 

A   GLANCE   OVER  HIS   POSTAL   OPERATIONS. 

The  years  1834,  735,  and  '36  were  remarkable  for  an 
almost  epidemic  species  of  madness  on  the  subject  of 
slavery,  or,  rather,  upon  the  question  of  the  immediate 
emancipation  of  the  slaves  throughout  the  South.  That 
this  was  carried  to  extremes  by  both  parties  there  can  be 
no  doubt,  and  that  very  extremity  became  the  chief  cause 
of  the  rebellion  of  the  South.  The  question  has  been  settled 
by  the  North  that  although  the  South  had  all  she  could 

17 


194  POSTMASTERS. 

claim  consistently  under  an  uncertain  clause  of  the  Con- 
stitution, she  had  no  right  to  make  slavery  a  fiendish 
monster,  that  was  to  ride  iron-shod  over  all  the  Free  States 
in  the  Union,  and  silence  the  voice  of  Christianity  in  its 
peaceful  attempts  to  lessen  its  evils.  As  a  relic  of  the  long 
past,  one  of  the  dark  pages  from  Saxon  history,  the  insti- 
tution of  slavery,  as  sustained  in  the  South,  was  a  deep, 
damning,  dark  spot  on  a  land  that  boasted  of  principles 
based  on  three  cardinal  precepts,  "virtue,  liberty,  and 
independence," — a  misnomer  in  its  Constitution  and  laws. 

While  the  fanatical  portion  of  the  Northern  abolitionists 
were  striving  to  impress  upon  the  South  the  enormity  of 
their  crime  in  sustaining  slavery,  the  South  was  equally 
virulent  in  its  condemnation  of  their  mode  of  doing  so. 
Meetings  were  held  all  over  the  country,  speeches  made, 
and  passion  swayed  the  judgment  to  the  total  extinction 
of  common  sense.  The  South  accused  the  North  of  encou- 
raging amalgamation;  the  North  indignantly  denied  it, 
and  with  much  logic  proved  that  it  was  a  Southern  virtue 
altogether. 

This  was  the  beginning  of  the  rebellion :  here  were  the 
seeds  grown,  watered,  and  nurtured  by  hatred,  envy,  and 
malice.  The  South  had  planted  its  poisonous  root  on  a 
free  soil,  and  it  came  in  contact  with  its  more  wholesome 
brother:  the  one  began  to  pale  before  the  venom  of  the 
other,  blasting  it  like  "a  mildew'd  ear."  It  is  not  our 
purpose  to  give  a  history  of  these  eventful  years,  nor  the 
consequence  attending  the  operations  of  the  Northern 
opposition  party  to  slavery  against  Southern  arrogance  and 
presumptuous  domination.  The  question,  however,  had 
to  be  decided  at  one  time  or  another;  and  in  1860  it  was 
answered  by  the  thunder  sound  of  cannon  and  flashes  from 
millions  of  rifles. 

The  South  became  very  indignant  against  the  post-office 
department,  which  it  accused  of  an  abuse  of  power,  by 


POSTMASTERS.  195 

permitting  what  they  called  "incendiary  publications"  to 
pass  through  the  office  to  individuals  in  the  South.  The 
Federal  Government  was  called  upon  to  correct  this 
"prostitution  of  its  laws,"  which  was  calculated  to  affect 
its  (the  South's)  peculiar  "domestic  institution,"  and  if 
persisted  in  would  be  the  CEETAIN  DESTRUCTION  OF  THE 
UNION. 

In  answer  to  repeated  complaints  made  to  Amos  Ken- 
dall, Esq.,  the  then  postmaster-general,  both  from  Southern 
men  and  Northern  advocates  of  slavery,  he  stated  distinctly 
that  he  had  no  legal  authority  to  exclude  newspapers  from 
the  mail,  nor  prohibit  their  carriage  or  delivery  on  account 
of  their  character  and  tendency,  real  or  supposed.  Indeed, 
this  would  be  assuming  a  power  over  the  liberty  of  the 
press  which  might  be  perverted  and  abused  to  an  extent 
highly  injurious  to  our  republican  system  of  government. 

In  1835,  Amos  Kendall  received  a  letter  from  the  post- 
master at  Charleston,  stating  that  he  had  detained  in  the 
office  certain  inflammatory  newspapers,  circulars,  pam- 
phlets, &c.,  the  distribution  of  which  he  thought  was  cal- 
culated to  do  much  harm  in  the  State ;  in  fact,  a  meeting 
was  called  in  that  city  of  its  citizens  upon  the  subject  of 
these  "  incendiary  documents,"  when  it  was  publicly  stated 
that  "  arrangements  had  been  made  with  the  postmaster,  by 
which  no  seditious  pamphlets  shall  be  issued  or  forwarded 
from  the  post-office  in  this  city"  !  The  committee  consisted 
of  the  following-named  gentlemen,  who  had  waited  upon 
the  postmaster,  and  hence  his  letter  to  the  postmaster- 
general: — General  Hayne,  John  Robinson,  Charles  Ed- 
monston,  H.  A.  Desaussure,  James  Robertson,  James  Lynah, 
Edward  R.  Laurens.  The  following  is  an  extract  from  Mr. 
Kendall's  letter  to  the  postmaster  at  Charleston :  similar 
replies  to  other  postmasters  from  the  Southern  States  were 
also  forwarded,  as  it  appeared  to  have  been  a  preconcerted 
Southern  action.  Of  this  there  can  be  no  doubt ;  for  the 


196  POSTMASTERS. 

Charleston  letter  bore  date  July  29,  1835,  the  Richmond 
August  8,  New  Orleans  July  15,  and  Georgia  July  10. 
Mr.  Kendall  says, — 

"But  I  am  not  prepared  to  direct  you  to  forward  or 
deliver  the  papers  of  which  you  speak.  The  post-office 
department  was  created  to  serve  the  people  of  each  and 
all  of  the  United  States,  and  not  to  be  used  as  the  instru- 
ment of  their  destruction.  None  of  the  papers  detained 
have  been  forwarded  to  me,  and  I  cannot  judge  for  myself 
of  their  character  and  tendency ;  but  you  inform  me  that 
they  are  in  character  l  the  most  inflammable  and  incendiary, 
and  insurrectionary  in  the  highest  degree/ 

"By  no  act  or  direction  of  mine,  official  or  private, 
could  I  be  induced  to  aid  knowingly  in  giving  circulation 
to  papers  of  this  description,  directly  or  indirectly.  We 
owe  an  obligation  to  the  laws,  but  a  higher  one  to  the 
communities  in  which  we  live ;  and  if  the  former  be  per- 
verted to  destroy  the  latter ',  it  is  patriotism  to  disregard 
them.  Entertaining  these  views,  I  cannot  sanction,  and 
will  not  condemn,  the  step  you  have  taken.  Your  justifi- 
cation must  be  looked  for  in  the  character  of  the  papers 
detained,  and  the  circumstances  by  which  you  are  sur- 
rounded." 

"The  surroundings"  in  and  near  all  Southern  post- 
offices  are  those  which  the  institution  of  slavery  inaugu- 
rates. Letters  from  certain  Eastern  States  were  subject  to 
an  espionage  somewhat  similar  to  that  by  which  a  detective 
policeman  tracks  an  unsuspecting  culprit  from  haunt  to 
haunt,  acquiring  a  perfect  knowledge  of  his  habits  and 
the  character  of  his  associates.  Letters  were  opened  by  a 
sort  of  steaming  process,  read  and  their  contents  noted, 
carefully  sealed  again,  and  delivered  to  the  person  to  whom 
they  were  directed.  If  the  contents  of  the  letter  came 
under  the  denunciatory  head,  the  individual  to  whom  it 
was  addressed  received  intimation  from  the  Order  of 


POSTMASTERS.  197 

"  The  Regulators/7  a  society  formed  for  the  purpose  of  find- 
ing out  abolitionists,  to  leave  the  city  in  twenty-four  hours. 

The  writer  of  this  resided  in  the  city  of  New  Orleans 
at  that  period,  and  he  knew  of  the  existence  of  one  esta- 
blished as  far  back  as  1829:  it  was  called  the  "Regu- 
lators." It  was  not  only  formidable  in  numbers,  but 
equally  so  in  a  political  point  of  view.  This  order  has 
since  been  merged  in  that  of  the  "Golden  Circle."  One 
of  the  obligations  of  the  "Regulators"  was,  and  is  in  the 
new  "junto,"  to  this  effect: — 

"I  do  promise  that  I  will  use  my  best  exertions  to  find 
out  any  and  every  one  who  in  any  way  favors  abolitionism, 
and  who  attempts  to  instruct  or  enlighten  a  slave,  either 
by  teaching  him  his  letters,  or  by  giving  him  religious 
instruction,"  &c. 

Under  this  oath  men  were  driven  from  the  South,  and 
in  some  instances  tarred  and  feathered!  In  1834  the 
writer  knew  an  old  gentleman  from  Boston,  who,  ignorant 
of  the  exclusive  slave-laws  of  the  State,  was  compelled  to 
quit  New  Orleans  for  simply  talking  to  an  old  black  man 
about  religion  and  teaching  him  his  letters,  so  that  he 
might  read  the  word  of  God:  this,  too,  in  a  Christian 
land, — a  land  of  freedom  !* 

It  may  be  observed,  however,  in  extenuation  even  for 
such  seeming  high-handed  measures,  that  as  slavery  was 
an  acknowledged  institution  rearing  itself  up  on  the  Con- 
stitution, and  that  some  4,000,000  of  human  creatures 

*  A  man  by  the  name  of  Carroll,  residing  in  Charleston,  South  Caro- 
lina, was  accused  of  being  intimate  with  slaves,  and  also  as  a  receiver 
of  stolen  goods,  particularly  the  article  of  cotton.  He  was  dragged 
from  his  house  (August,  1835),  and  received  twenty  lashes ;  he  was 
then  stripped  from  his  waist  upwards,  tarred  and  feathered ;  he  was 
then  marched  in  procession  through  the  streets  and  lodged  in  the  jail; 
he  was  also  compelled  to  leave  the  city.  The  law,  it  seemed,  sanctioned 
the  action  of  the  mob ;  for  he  was  actually  received  in  the  prison  from 
this  self-constituted  authority. 

17* 


198  POSTMASTERS. 

were  chained  to  it,  it  was  absolutely  necessary  to  keep 
them  in  ignorance  of  any  sympathy  existing  for  their 
degraded  state  either  in  the  North  or  the  South,  lest  such 
sympathy  should  excite  them  to  resistance.  Hence  every 
thing  that  was  calculated  to  throw  light  on  their  benighted 
pathway,  and  strengthen  any  lingering  preconceived  idea 
that  they  were  men  and  not  beasts  of  burden,  was  kept 
studiously  away  from  them.  As  long  as  this  country 
sanctioned  the  existence  of  slavery,  just  so  long  was  she 
justified  in  protecting  those  States  sustaining  it  from  any 
outbreak  on  the  part  of  its  victims.  It  was  an  evil  that 
came  in  under  the  Constitution,  and  it  was  an  evil  it  was 
bound  to  sustain.  The  anti-slavery  party  North  carried 
their  views  far  beyond  common  sense  and  simple  reason ; 
and  this  led  to  Southern  opposition.  But  the  more  enlight- 
ened people  viewed  both  parties  as  acting  wrong,  and  in 
opposing  the  first  they  as  strongly  repudiated  the  acts  of 
the  latter.  And  what  has  been  the  consequence?  The 
South,  alone  in  its  crime,  alone  in  its  inhuman  traffic,  alone 
in  its  crushing  power  to  make  men  beasts  of  burden, — 
even  lower  in  the  animal  scale  than  the  animal  itself, — 
like  Lucifer,  rebelled  against  its  country  and  its  God. 
Thus,  slaveholders  became  barbarians  by  the  very  act  of 
attempting  to  rivet  the  chains  of  bondage  on  man  and  his 
country.  That  rebellion  recreated  in  our  midst  a  new 
order,  or  rather  carried  out  the  very  spirit  of  the  Declara- 
tion of  Independence,  declaring  that  these  united  colonies 
are,  and  of  right  ought  to  be, "  FREE  AND  INDEPENDENT 
STATES."  There  can  be  no  such  thing  as  freedom,  if  its 
meaning  be  linked  to  the  chains  of  slavery.  There  is  no 
true  freedom  for  an  American  to  boast  of,  if  one  portion 
of  the  land  sustains  slavery  and  laughs  at  the  sound  of  the 
lash  as  it  lacerates  the  back  of  a  bondsman  in  the  nineteenth 
century.  Age  of  Christianity !  age  of  refinement !  age  of 
letters !  What  a  misnomer ! 


POSTMASTERS.  199 

• 

This  feeling,  which  had  a  tendency  to  divide  the  South 
from  the  North,  was  gradually  assuming  a  dangerous 
aspect.  It  was  a  feeling  antagonistical  to  that  which  pre- 
vailed in  the  North.  The  one  was  allied  to  the  age  of 
barbarism,  the  other  to  the  highest  order  of  civilization. 
The  worst  passions  of  bad  men  were  working  the  evil ; 
they  engendered  hatred  and  malice ;  and  the  rising  popu- 
larity of  the  North  for  its  intelligence,  its  institutions,  its 
educational  system,  ks  arts,  its  sciences,  and,  in  fact,  all 
that  a  high  state  of  intellectual  knowledge  produces, 
added  fuel  to  the  hellish  fire  that  was  burning  in  the 
Southern  breast. 

They  could  boast  of  only  one  institution,  and  that  was 
slavery.  This  institution  sent  forth 

"the  piercing  cry 

Which  shook  the  waves  and  rent  the  sky : 
E'en  now,  e'en  now,  on  yonder  western  shores 
Weeps  pale  Despair,  and  writhing  Anguish  roars ; 
E'en  now  on  Afric's  groves,  with  hideous  yell 
Fierce  Slavery  stalks,  and  slips  the  dogs  of  hell; 
From  vale  to  vale  the  gathering  cries  rebound, 
And  sable  nations  tremble  at  the  sound !" 

The  South  actually  could  boast  of  but  this  one  institution : 
for  all  others,  either  of  commerce,  agriculture,  education, 
arts  or  sciences,  they  were  indebted  to  the  North.  And 
yet  they  rebelled ! 

The  moment  men,  as  well  as  nations,  feel  their  own 
insignificance  and  witness  the  rising  greatness  of  others, 
that  moment  they  begin  to  plot  mischief.  Treason  is  the 
oifspring  of  disappointment  and  a  desire  for  power.  De- 
feated ambition  not  unfrequently  steps  in,  and  out  of  such 
elements  rebellions  are  made.  Lucifer,  therefore,  may  be 
quoted  as  the  personification  of  the  treason  of  Jeff  Davis. 

The  South  also  made  the  discovery  that  slave  labor, 
devoted  only  to  one  object,  was  demoralizing  the  soil,  as 


200  POSTMASTERS. 

9 

it  had  already  demoralized  society.  Northern  men  and 
Northern  manners  did  not  suit  their  ideas  of  refinement, 
and  thus  the  social  relations  became  unpleasant. 

Every  foot  of  ground  neglected  or  simply  used  for  one 
especial  purpose  was  gradually  wearing  out.  The  census 
of  1850  furnishes  the  following  facts  connected  with  the 
decadency  of  the  Southern  soil. 

Three  hundred  and  thirty-five  thousand  natives  of  Vir- 
ginia emigrated  from  the  State  of  Virginia  and  found 
homes  elsewhere.  South  Carolina  sent  forth  163,000. 
North  Carolina  lost  261,575, — equal  to  thirty-one  per  cent. 
As  regards  Maryland,  the  extreme  poverty  of  her  soil  can 
be  directly  traced  to  man's  neglect  of  what  kind  Nature 
sent  him,  that  by  the  "sweat  of  his  brow"  he  should  cul- 
tivate and  enjoy. 

If  we  were  to  trace  the  cause  of  this,  it  would  be  found 
to  have  originated  in  the  sterility  of  the  soil,  the  absence 
of  free  labor  and  agricultural  knowledge.  Southern  men 
are  not  favorably  disposed  towards  Northern  improvements 
in  any  department,  no  matter  whether  it  be  trade,  com- 
merce, or  agriculture:  hence  they  have  no  such  farms 
South  as  they  have  North,  even  in  portions  of  their 
country  where  the  soil  is  equally  susceptible  of  improve- 
ment. 

The  South  stated  distinctly,  speaking  through  her  secret 
councils,  using  their  own  language,  "that  it  could  only 
hope  for  the  real  enjoyment  of  its  rights  in  a  SOUTHERN 
CONFEDERACY" ! 

Mr.  Kendall's  letter  to  the  postmaster  was  applauded 
by  the  Southern  press,  and  most  severely  censured  by  that 
of  the  North.  One  editor  said,  "  There  was  but  one  course 
for  the  postmaster-general  to  pursue  in  relation  to  the  dis- 
tribution of  the  documents  at  Charleston,  and  that  is,  to 
have  directed  his  subordinate  officer  to  follow  the  statutes 
as  laid  down,  and  leave  the  result  to  the  law.  Instead  of 


POSTMASTERS.  201 

this,  he  tells  him  that  it  is  patriotism  sometimes  to  disregard 
the  law!" 

It  is  said  the  law  is  defective:  it  may  have  been  in  1835 ; 
but  the  South,  by  its  own  vile  act,  has  made  that  law  so 
clear  that  there  is  not  the  least  doubt  but  every  Southern 
postmaster  hereafter,  whatever  his  political  opinions  may 
be,  will  be  fully  able  to  understand  it. 

Perhaps  no  man  exerted  himself  more  to  make  the 
postal  department  honored  and  respected  than  did  Amos 
Kendall.  He  was,  consequently,  making  rules  and  regu- 
lations organizing  the  several  departments,  and  watching 
each  and  every  operation  with  a  shrewd  and  business  eye 
to  its  interest. 

In  1835,  under  the  heading  of  the  "Organization  of  the 
Post-Office  Department,"  he  published  fifty-six  rules  and 
regulations,  concluding  with  the  following  remarks,  apart 
from  a  political  basis: — 

"The  postmaster-general  looks  to  all  those  under  his 
direction  and  control  for  a  cheerful  and  vigorous  co-opera- 
tion in  the  management  of  the  business  of  the  department, 
by  which  they  will  not  only  render  an  essential  service  to 
their  country,  but  assuredly  promote  their  own  happiness 
and  extend  their  individual  reputation.  It  will  give  him 
pleasure,  and  it  is  his  fixed  purpose,  to  advance,  as  occa- 
sion may  oifer,  all  such  as  by  their  industry,  fidelity,  and 
correct  deportment  may  give  character  to  the  department 
and  enable  him  to  discharge  honorably  the  important 
duties  with  which  he  is  intrusted." 

Mr.  Kendall  and,  in  fact,  all  postmaster -generals  in 
their  reports  invariably  speak  of  advancing  the  interest  of 
honest  and  trustworthy  employees;  but  we  believe  that 
unless  this  important  and  much-desired  consideration  is 
carried  out  by  political  influence,  anxious  expectants  will 
never  enjoy  the  benefits  arising  from  it. 

Postmaster-General  Blair  made  similar  promises,  which, 


202  POSTMASTERS. 

like  those  of  others,  were  not  fulfilled,  and  the  writer  of 
this,  among  others,  was  told  that  an  addition  to  their 
salary  would  follow  Postmaster-General  Blair's  promises. 
The  presumption,  however,  was  that  there  was  not  a  man 
in  the  whole  postal  department  who  came  up  to  the  post- 
master-general's idea  of  what  constituted  "honesty"  in  its 
connection  with  the  department.  This,  however,  we  do 
know,  that  the  noisy,  ignorant  politicians,  those  who  exer- 
cised an  influence  over  frequenters  of  rum-shops,  were  the 
men  who  received  the  most  attention  from  these  function- 
aries. Postmaster-General  Blair,  in  his  Annual  Report 
of  the  Post-Office  Department,  1862,  winds  up  with  these 
words : — 

"  It  is  my  purpose  to  adhere  firmly  to  my  determination 
to  displace  incompetency  and  indifference  wherever  found 
in  official  position  under  my  control,  without  any  discrimi- 
nation in  favor  of  appointments  which  I  may  myself  have 
made  under  misinformation  of  facts.  The  postal  business 
must  be  conducted,  if  successful,  upon  the  same  principles 
which  control  the  operations  of  the  upright  and  sagacious 
man  of  business.  The  department  should  adhere  to  those 
officers  who  have  administrative  talents  and  are  faithful  to 
its  interests,  and  should  remove  those  who  take  no  interest 
in  the  efficiency  of  its  service." 

This  is  exactly  the  argument  we  have  used  in  another 
portion  of  this  work  in  favor  of  those  who  are  faithful  to 
the  interest  of  the  government  and  have  acquired  a  tho- 
rough knowledge  of  their  duties.  We  hope  the  sugges- 
tions of  Mr.  Blair  will  be  practically  carried  out. 

Mr.  Kendall  had  to  contend  against  a  powerful  political 
party  which  was  brought  to  bear  upon  his  time  and 
patience.  The  latter  was  severely  tried  during  the  session 
of  Congress,  March,  1839.  To  all  the  attacks,  however, 
which  were  made  upon  him,  and  the  various  attempts  to 
accuse  him  of  political  partiality  in  his  appointments,  he 


POSTMASTERS.  203 

answered  with  a  clearness  and  boldness  which  fully  proved 
that  the  attempt  to  make  political  capital  out  of  his  sup- 
posed malfeasance  in  office  was  at  best  but  a  "weak  inven- 
tion of  the  enemy." 

It  was  stated  that  he  retained  in  office  a  postmaster,  "a 
wretch  who  was  guilty  of  forgery  and  counterfeiting,  and 
who  escaped  the  fangs  of  the  law  only  by  turning  state's 
evidence,"  although  he  had  been  fully  informed  of  the 
facts  and  knew  the  character  of  the  man,  and  that  his 
reason  for  retaining  him  (such  a  villain)  in  office  was  that 
he  was  an  active  and  determined  partisan.  To  this  state- 
ment Mr.  Kendall  replied  as  follows: — 

"  These  charges  appear  to  have  been  made  on  the  28th 
of  February  last.  Lucius  D.  Smith,  postmaster  at  New 
Lebanon,  Oneida  county,  New  York,  the  individual  re- 
ferred to,  was  removed  from  office  on  the  21st  of  January 
last,  and  the  appointment  of  his  successor  was  officially 
announced  in  the  i  Globe7  on  the  1st  of  February  last.  He 
had,  therefore,  been  removed  more  than  a  month  when 
these  charges  were  uttered  on  the  floor  of  the  House." 

In  another  portion  of  this  work  we  have  alluded  to  the 
fact  of  the  postal  department  being  made  a  political  one. 
It  is  one  of  those  institutions  that  is  allied  to  the  general 
interest  of  all  parties;  and  for  the  maintenance  of  that 
interest  its  political  influence  should  not  extend  throughout 
all  its  ramifications.  It  is  true,  the  heads  of  the  depart- 
ment in  many  instances,  being  mere  ciphers,  might  be 
with  propriety  politically  disposed  of;  but  the  workers  in 
the  office — the  active  business-men — should  not  step  out 
from  their  duties  to  take  part  in  the  active  workings  of  the 
party  at  the  expense  of  the  postal  interest.  And  yet,  under 
the  present  system,  these  men  must  labor  in  their  "  political 
vocation"  or  lose  their  position.  Their  presence  at  ward- 
meetings,  their  being  elected  delegates,  their  lost  time  at 
the  polls,  are  all  for  their  chances  of  retaining  place  for 


204  POSTMASTERS. 

four  years.  Then  they  pass  away  into  other  business,  for- 
gotten by  those  who  used  them  as  their  tools  while  in 
office.  What  are  such  men,  when  subject  to  a  system  like 
this,  but  political  paupers?  We  do  not  say  that  men  in 
the  post-office  should  not  be  the  friends  and  supporters  of 
the  party  in  power :  on  the  contrary,  they  are  expected  to 
be.  But  cannot  a  man  be  the  friend  and  supporter  of  the 
government  under  any  administration  apart  from  his 
political  bias,  more  particularly  if  he  is  placed  in  a  posi- 
tion of  honor  and  trust  not  easily  supplied  by  another, 
without  being  subject  to  instant  dismissal?  Previous  to 
1860  this  should  have  been  a  governmental  axiom;  but  the 
rebellion  changed  the  whole  system,  because  there  arose 
a  divided  sentiment  in  relation  to  the  union  of  States, 
originating  the  treasonable  idea  that  secession  was  a  con- 
stitutional principle.  Men  who  advocated  this  doctrine 
were  not  considered  worthy  a  place  of  trust :  hence,  in  the 
different  post-offices  throughout  the  loyal  States,  the  oath 
of  allegiance  was  administered  to  the  employees, — a  most 
important  movement;  for  a  disloyal  clerk  would  have  been 
a  powerful  auxiliary  to  the  rebel  cause.  Although  during 
the  rebellion — nay,  even  up  to  its  very  close — portions  of 
the  press  were  favorably  disposed  towards  traitors,  the 
post-office  made  no  distinction  in  its  distribution  of  news- 
papers: unlike  the  South  in  its  days  of  slavish  triumph 
and  during  the  incipient  stages  of  the  rebellion,  it  exer- 
cised no  espionage  even  over  the  Copperhead  presses  of  the 
North, — an  oversight  on  the  part  of  our  government  for 
which  it  has  dearly  paid;  for  it  led  to  the  assassination 
of  Abraham  Lincoln,  by  furnishing  to  the  South  the  in- 
formation of  its  having  friends  in  the  North.  His  death, 
however,  only  accelerated  the  downfall  of  all  their  plans 
and  the  final  surrender  of  all  their  armies. 

And  here,  although  perhaps  out  of  place  in  a  work  like 
this,  we  ask  how  an  editor,  dipping  his  pen  in  the  black 


POSTMASTERS.  205 

blood  of  treason  and  tracing  the  dark  lines  of  crime  along 
the  columns  of  his  paper  could  claim  postal  protection 
while  aiming  to  destroy  the  very  power  under  which  he 
claimed  the  right  to  publish  his  incendiary  sheet? 

That  press  should  cease  to  be  considered  a  part  and 
portion  of  an  institution  when  its  columns  maintain  the 
right  not  only  to  utter  treason,  but  to  claim  on  constitu- 
tional grounds,  according  to  its  idea,  the  privilege  of  ex- 
pressing sentiments  calculated  to  destroy  the  union  of  the 
States.* 

We  have  alluded  to  the  frequent  changes  that  are  made 
in  our  post-offices:  we  annex  parallel  passages  from  the 
English  post-office  administration  and  that  of  our  own: — 

ELEMENTS   OF   THE   BRITISH   SYSTEM. 

In  the  English  postal  system  there  are  potential  elements 
which  render  it  a  success,  while  in  ours  it  is  a  failure. 

One  of  these  elements  is  that  the  personnel  of  their 
postal  administration  is  more  permanent,  and  the  establish- 
ment is  placed  purely  on  a  business  footing. .  It  is  admi- 
nistered by  experienced  men.  Once  thoroughly  instructed 
in  the  laws,  the  regulations,  and  their  duties,  the  depart- 
ment measures  their  claims  to  office  by  their  continued 
fidelity  and  attention  to  its  interests.  In  some  branches 
of  the  service,  candidates  are  admitted  upon  both  a  physical 
and  mental  examination  of  their  qualifications.  A  medical 
officer  examines  the  aspirants  for  clerkships  and  for  the 
places  of  carriers  and  laborers.  Post-office  savings-banks 
are  connected  with  the  establishment.  Provision  for  life- 
assurance,  the  premiums  being  deducted  from  weekly  or 
monthly  wages,  is  also  a  part  of  their  system.  They  thus 
combine  nearly  all  interests  to  procure  a  permanent  and 
faithful  devotion  to  duty. 

*  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  art.  ii.  sect.  2. 
18 


206  POSTMASTERS. 

ELEMENTS   OF  THE   AMERICAN   POST-OFFICE. 

The  elements  which  make  up  our  postal  department  are 
those  which  politics  create.  These  are  constantly  changing, 
and  every  change  produces  its  own  creatures.  The  very 
resignations  are  the  consequences  of  these  changes,  and  not 
of  the  desire  to  secure  other  employment.  Men  would 
rather  owe  to  themselves  the  right  of  leaving  a  position 
than  submit  to  the  pompous  notice  from  an  official,  com- 
mencing with,  "  Your  services  are  no  longer  required,"  &c. 

The  number  of  resignations  alone  during  the  year 
ending  on  the  30th  of  June,  1862,  was  2902,  the  removals 
2786,  out  of  19,973  officers  in  the  loyal  States  and  districts. 
The  resignations  were  nearly  fifteen  per  cent,  of  the  whole 
number,  and  resignations  and  removals  combined  about 
twenty-eight  per  cent,  of  the  whole  number.  The  new 
appointees  must  acquire  a  practical  postal  education  before 
they  can  promptly  and  accurately  discharge  their  duties. 
It  is  evident  that  a  system  so  liable  to  constant  and  large 
changes  in  its  administration  must  be  defective  in  many 
elements  of  completeness.  The  theory  of  our  government 
requires  a  direct  official  responsibility  to  the  executive 
head,  and  that  the  term  of  office  should  be  limited  to  the 
proper  discharge  of  that  responsibility.  The  principle  is 
correct.  But  the  proper  compensatory  principle  requires 
retention  of  good  officers,  as  truly  as  it  requires  the  dis- 
charge of  incompetent  incumbents.  This  principle  can 
be  carried  into  effect  only  when  public  sentiment  shall  be 
so  clear  and  uniform  as  to  make  itself  felt  by  all  public 
representatives  influencing  appointments. 

NUMBER   OF   POST-OFFICES. 

The  number  of  post-offices  established  on  the  30th  of 
June,  1865,  including  suspended  offices  in  Southern  States, 
was  28,832;  number  subject  to  appointment  by  the  Presi- 


POSTMASTERS.  207 

dent,  702;  by  the  postmaster-general,  28,170;  number  of 
persons  engaged,  85,000. 

APPOINTMENTS 

Made  to  fill  vacancies  caused  by  resignations 3,575 

Removals 925 

Deaths 229 

Changes  of  names  and  sites 132 

Establishment  of  new  offices 586 

Total  appointments y 5,447 

The  number  of  offices  in  the  late  disloyal  States  is  8902, 
of  which  1051  were  reopened  on  November  15,  1865. 

Number  of  route-agents,  387;  aggregate  compensation, 
$229,522.  Number  of  local  agents,  51;  aggregate  com- 
pensation, $30,949.  Number  of  special  agents,  33;  ag- 
gregate compensation,  $82,790.  Number  of  baggage- 
masters,  110;  aggregate  compensation,  $6600.  Number 
of  postal  railway-clerks,  64;  aggregate  compensation, 
$75,000. 

JOHN  MILTON  NILES. — This  gentleman  was  born  in 
"Windsor,  Connecticut,  August  20,  1787,  and  was  bred  to 
the  bar,  and  went  to  Hartford  in  1816  to  practise  law;  in 
1817  he  was  there  concerned  in  publishing  the  "Times," 
which  he  edited  for  a  time;  in  1820  he  was  appointed 
postmaster  at  Hartford  by  President  Jackson,  and  held  the 
office  until  made  a  Senator  in  Congress  in  1835,  in  which 
position  he  remained  until  1839;  in  1840  he  was  appointed 
postmaster-general  by  President  Van  Buren;  in  1842  he 
was  again  elected  to  the  United  States  Senate,  served  six 
years,  retired  to  private  life,  and  died  May  31,  1856. 

FRANCIS  GRANGER. — Born  at  Suffield,  Connecticut, 
December  1,  1792;  graduated  at  Yale  College  in  1811; 
admitted  to  the  bar  in  May,  1816;  he  was  elected  a  mem- 


208  POSTMASTERS. 

her  of  the  New  York  Legislature  in  1825,  and  again  in 
1826,  1827,  1829,  and  1831;  in  1828  he  was  a  candidate 
for  the  office  of  Lieutenant-Go vernor,  but  was  defeated; 
and  in  1830  and  again  in  1832  he  was  run  for  Governor 
with  the  same  result;  in  1834  he  was  elected  to  Congress; 
in  1836  he  was  a  candidate  for  Vice-President,  and  re- 
ceived the  electoral  votes  of  the  States  of  Massachusetts, 
Vermont,  New  Jersey,  Delaware,  Ohio,  Indiana,  and 
Kentucky;  he  was  again  elected  to  Congress  in  1838  and 
in  1840;  appointed  postmaster-general  March  6,  1841,  but 
resigned  the  following  September.  His  successor  in  Con- 
gress thereupon  resigned,  and  Mr.  Granger  was  again 
elected  to  that  body.  On  the  4th  of  March,  1843,  he  finally 
retired  from  public  life. 

Francis  Granger,  immediately  on  entering  upon  the 
duties  of  his  office,  made  the  same  discovery  as  had  others 
before  him, — that  the  postal  department  was  not  self-sus- 
taining. Had  the  postmaster-general  been  acquainted  with 
the  business  of  the  office  before  entering  upon  its  duties, 
he  would  have  been  fully  enabled  to  reconcile  the  warring 
elements  of  statistics  and  figures  which  the  books  of  the 
office  presented.  The  post-office  department  is  not  a  self- 
sustaining  one,  nor  will  it  be  until  there  is  a  reconstruction 
of  the  whole  system.  In  several  portions  of  this  work 
we  have  alluded  to  some  of  the  causes  tending  to  such 
deficiencies,  and  pointed  out  the  remedy.  As  this  remedy, 
however,  is  connected  with  certain  abuses  not  unknown  to 
high  officials,  it  is  questionable  if  any  action  will  ever  be 
taken  upon  it.  Mr.  Granger  says,  "  When  first  entering 
upon  my  official  duties,  my  attention  was  forced  to  the 
constant  demands  for  payment  beyond  the  ability  of  the 
department  to  pay ;  and,  with  a  view  to  ascertain  as  nearly 
as  might  be  its  undisputed  liabilities  and  probable  means, 
on  the  21st  of  March  [1841]  last  a  letter  was  addressed  to 


POSTMASTERS.  209 

the  Auditor  of  the  Treasury  for  the  post-office  department, 
requesting  from  him  information  on  those  subjects." 

Mr.  Granger  became  considerably  enlightened,  no  doubt, 
when  the  auditor  furnished  him  with  the  following,  which 
he  recognized  thus  : — a  By  an  examination  of  that  state- 
ment, it  will  be  seen  that  there  was  due  and  unpaid  to 
contractors  of  ascertained  balances  on  the  1st  of  January 
last  the  sum  of  $447,029,  a  considerable  portion  of  which 
has  been  paid  from  the  revenues  of  the  quarter  ending  on 
the  31st  of  March.  A  report  from  the  auditor  upon  the 
outstanding  contracts  will  undoubtedly  increase  this  amount 
of  indebtedness  to  a  total  exceeding  half  a  million  of 
dollars:  in  addition  to  which,  heavy  demands  are  fre- 
quently made  on  the  department  upon  unliquidated 
claims."  ....  "Under  these  circumstances,"  he  asks, 
"  how  is  the  department  to  be  sustained  under  its  present 
embarrassments  ?  and  what  are  its  financial  hopes  for  the 
future?" 

"  He  also  states  that  the  amount  demanded  by  railroad 
companies  for  transportation  of  the  mails  is  more  than 
two  hundred  per  cent,  higher  than  is  paid  for  coach 
service  upon  the  roads  connecting  links  between  different 
railroad  companies  upon  the  same  main  route,  and  that, 
too,  where  the  night-service  upon  the  railroads  is  less  than 
that  performed  in  coaches."  He  illustrates  this  by  the 
following: — " Boston  is  one  of  the  most  important  points 
of  railroad  concentration  in  the  Union.  Its  business  pros- 
perity is  proverbial ;  and  yet  in  that  city  the  quarter  end- 
ing the  31st  of  March  shows,  as  compared  with  the  corre- 
sponding quarter  of  the  year  before,  a  decrease  in  postage 
receipts  of  three  thousand  one  hundred  and  ninety-five 
dollars,  being  double  the  amount  of  diminution  to  be  found 
within  the  same  time  in  any  other  post-office  in  the  nation, 
with  the  single  exception  of  Philadelphia,  which  is  another 
great  terminus  of  railroad  communication." 

18* 


210  POSTMASTERS. 

CHAELES  A.  WICKLIFFE. — Born  at  Bardstown,  Ken- 
tucky, June  8,  1788,  and  was  admitted  to  the  bar  at  an 
early  age.  He  was  twice  elected  to  the  State  legislature 
during  the  war  of  1812;  he  twice  volunteered  in  the 
Northwestern  army,  and  was  present  at  the  battle  of  the 
Thames ;  in  1820  he  was  again  elected  to  the  legislature ; 
in  1822  he  was  elected  to  Congress,  and  was  four  times 
re-elected.  During  his  service  in  that  body  he  was 
appointed  by  the  House  as  one  of  the  managers  in  the 
impeachment  of  Judge  Peck.  Upon  leaving  Congress  in 
1833,  he  was  again  elected  to  the  legislature,  and  upon  its 
assembling  was  chosen  Speaker.  In  1834  he  was  elected 
Lieutenant-Go vernor  of  the  State;  and  in  1839,  by  the 
death  of  Governor  Clark,  he  became  acting  Governor. 
He  was  appointed  postmaster-general  September  13, 1841. 
In  1849  he  was  chosen  as  a  delegate  to  the  Constitutional 
Convention  of  Kentucky ;  and  under  the  new  Constitution 
he  was  appointed  as  one  of  the  revisers  of  the  statute  laws 
of  the  State. 

This  gentleman's  views  of  the  postal  department  were 
more  practical  and  business-like  than  those  of  his  pre- 
decessor. He  says  in  his  report,  dated  December  2, 
1841,  "As  has  already  been  remarked,  the  original  design 
in  the  establishment  of  the  post-office  department  was 
that  its  income  should  be  made  to  sustain  its  operations. 
That  principle  ought  never  to  be  abandoned.  Whilst  the 
department  should  not  be  regarded  as  a  source  of  revenue 
to  the  nation,  it  never  should  become  an  annual  charge  to 
the  treasury.  Upon  assuming  the  discharge  of  the  duties- 
pertaining  to  the  office  of  postmaster-general,  my  first 
object  was  to  investigate  its  financial  condition;  and  it 
becomes  my  duty  to  inform  you  that  I  did  not  find  it  in 
that  prosperous  state  which  the  demands  upon  it  require. 

"  The  income  of  this  department  is  liable  to  be  affected 
by  the  fluctuations  of  the  business  of  the  country.  It  is 


POSTMASTERS.  211 

increased  or  depressed  in  proportion  to  the  increase  or 
depression  of  that  business." 

Mr.  Wickliffe  also  took  another  sensible  view  of  the 
department :  he  says,  "  Besides  this  cause  of  fluctuation  m 
its  income,  other  causes  of  a  reduction,  more  or  less  in 
every  year,  may  be  found  in  the  increased  facilities  which 
the  travel  upon  railroads  and  steamboats  furnishes  for  the 
transmission  of  letters  and  newspapers  by  private  convey- 
ance ;  secondly,  in  the  great  extension,  to  say  nothing  of 
the  abuse,  of  the  FRANKING  PRIVILEGE  ;  thirdly,  in  the 
recent  establishment  of  what  are  called  private  expenses 
upon  the  great  mail-routes  of  the  United  States ;  fourthly, 
in  the  frauds  practised  upon  the  department  in  evading  by 
various  devices  the  payment  of  the  postage  imposed  by 
law." 

CAVE  JOHNSON. — Born  January  11,  1793,  in  Robert- 
son county,  Tennessee.  His  opportunities  for  education 
were  limited,  but  made  available  to  the  greatest  extent. 
In  his  youth  he  acted  as  deputy-clerk  of  the  county,  his 
father  being  clerk.  He  was  thence  led  to  the  study  of 
the  law.  In  1813  he  was  appointed  deputy-quartermaster 
in  a  brigade  of  militia  commanded  by  his  father,  and 
marched  into  the  Creek  nation  under  General  Jackson. 
He  continued  in  this  service  until  the  close  of  the  Creek 
War  in  1814.  In  1816  he  was  admitted  to  the  bar;  in 
1817  he  was  elected  by  the  legislature  one  of  the  attorneys- 
general  of  the  State,  which  office  he  held  until  elected  a 
member  of  Congress  in  1829.  He  was  re-elected  in  1831, 
1833,  and  1835,  defeated  in  1837,  again  elected  in  1839, 
1841,  and  1843.  Appointed  postmaster-general  March  5, 
1845.  In  1849  he  served  for  a  few  months  as  one  of  the 
circuit  judges  of  Tennessee,  and  in  1853  was  appointed 
by  the  Governor  and  Senate  as  President  of  the  Bank  of 
Tennessee,  at  Nashville. 


212  POSTMASTERS. 

JACOB  COLLAMER. — Born  at  Troy,  New  York,  about 
1792,  and  removed  in  childhood  to  Burlington,  Vermont, 
^ith  his  father;  graduated  at  the  State  University  at  that 
place  in  1810;  served  during  the  year  1812  a  frontier 
campaign  as  a  lieutenant  in  the  service  of  the  United 
States;  admitted  to  the  bar  in  1813;  practised  law  for 
twenty  years,  serving  frequently  in  the  State  legislature. 
In  1833  he  was  elected  an  associate  justice  of  the  Supreme 
Court  of  the  State,  from  which  position  he  voluntarily 
retired  in  1842.  In  the  course  of  that  period  he  was  also 
a  member  of  a  convention  held  to  revise  the  Constitution 
of  the  State.  In  1843,  elected  to  Congress  to  fill  a  vacancy, 
and  re-elected  for  a  full  term  in  1844,  and  again  in  1846. 
Appointed  postmaster-general  March  7, 1849, — thus  form- 
ing one  of  the  Cabinet  of  President  Taylor.  He  resigned 
in  1850,  with  the  rest  of  the  Cabinet,  on  the  death  of  the 
President,  and  was  soon  afterwards  reappointed  on  the 
Supreme  bench  of  his  State,  which  office  he  held  until 
1854,  when  he  was  elected  a  Senator  in  Congress  from 
Vermont  for  six  years  from  1855 ;  and  in  1861  he  was 
re-elected  for  the  term  ending  in  1867,  serving  as  chair- 
man of  the  Committee  on  Post-Offices  and  Post-Roads, 
also  that  on  the  Library,  and  as  a  member  of  several  other 
important  committees.  He  received  the  degree  of  LL.  D. 
from  the  University  of  Vermont  and  from  Dartmouth 
College,  New  Hampshire. 

He  died  on  the  9th  of  November,  1865,  at  Woodstock, 
Vermont,  in  the  seventy-fourth  year  of  his  age.  Mr. 
Collamer  was  one  of  the  most  distinguished  of  our  states- 
men, and  one  of  the  oldest  members  of  the  Senate. 

NATHAN  KELSEY  HALL. — Born  at  Skaneateles,  New 
York,  March  28,  1810;  removed  to  Aurora,  in  the  same 
State,  in  1826,  and  commenced  the  study  of  the  law  with 
Millard  Fillmore ;  removed  with  the  latter  to  Buifalo  in 


t 

\^|  ^^POSTMASTERS.  213 

1830 ;  admitted  to  the  bar  in  1832 ;  appointed  First  Judge 
of  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas  in  1841 ;  in  1845  elected 
a  member  of  the  State  legislature,  and  in  1846  a  member 
of  Congress.  He  was  appointed  postmaster-general  July 
20,  1850,  and  in  1852  United  States  Judge  for  the 
Northern  District  of  New  York. 

It  was  during  his  administration  that  the  change  was 
made  in  the  rates  of  postage,  by  making  letter-postage 
three  cents  to  every  part  of  the  United  States,  except  Cali- 
fornia and  the  Pacific  Territories, — the  weight  of  letter 
one-half  ounce,  and  prepaid. 

SAMUEL  DICKENSON  HUBBAKD. — Born  at  Middletown, 
Connecticut,  August  10,  1799;  graduated  at  Yale  College 
in  1819.  He  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  1822,  but  sub- 
sequently engaged  in  manufacturing  enterprises.  He  was 
mayor  of  the  city  of  Middletown,  and  held  other  offices 
of  local  trust.  In  1845  he  was  elected  a  member  of  Con- 
gress, and  re-elected  in  1847.  He  was  appointed  post- 
master-general September  14,  1852.  Died  at  Middletown, 
October  8,  1855. 

JAMES  CAMPBELL. — Born  September  1,  1813,  in  the 
city  of  Philadelphia,  Pennsylvania;  admitted  to  the  bar 
in  1834,  at  the  age  of  twenty-one  years;  in  1841,  at  the 
age  of  twenty-eight,  he  was  appointed  Judge  of  the  Com- 
mon Pleas  Court  for  the  city  and  county  of  Philadelphia, 
which  position  he  occupied  for  the  term  of  nine  years ;  in 
1851,  when  the  Constitution  of  the  State  was  changed, 
making  the  judiciary  elective,  he  was  nominated  by  a 
State  convention  of  his  party  as  a  candidate  for  the  Supreme 
Court  of  the  State,  but  was  defeated  after  a  warmly-con- 
tested and  somewhat  peculiar  contest,  securing,  however, 
176,000  votes ;  in  January,  1852,  he  was  appointed  At- 
torney-General of  Pennsylvania,  which  he  resigned  to 


214  POSTMASTERS. 

assume  the  duties  of  postmaster-general :  he  was  appointed 
to  that  office  on  the  8th  of  March,  1853. 

There  was  no  particular  feature  in  the  postal  department 
to  render  this  gentleman's  name  in  its  connection  popular 
during  his  term  of  office.  It  is  somewhat  curious,  how- 
ever, that  the  administrations  of  Franklin  Pierce  and 
James  Buchanan — both  peculiarly  political — should  have 
furnished  to  the  Southern  Confederacy  more  prominent 
men  who  were  engaged  with  them  in  office  than  did  all  the 
other  administrations  combined.  Is  this  accident,  design, 
or  the  effect  of  their  political  education  under  their  reign? 

AARON  VAIL  BROWN. — Appointed  postmaster-general 
under  James  Buchanan's  administration  in  1857;  was  born 
August  15,  1795,  in  Brunswick  county,  Virginia;  gradu- 
ated at  the  University  of  North  Carolina,  at  Chapel  Hill, 
in  1814;  studied  law  and  soon  commenced  practice  in 
Nashville,  Tennessee;  he  was  partner  in  the  law  business 
of  the  late  President  Polk ;  served  in  almost  all  the  ses- 
sions of  the  legislature  of  Tennessee  between  1821  and 
1832;  he  was  a  member  of  the  House  of  Representatives 
from  1839  to  1845,  and  was  in  that  year  elected  Governor 
of  Tennessee. 

In  his  first  report  as  postmaster-general,  made  December 
1,  1857,  he  very  modestly  stated  that,  "entering  on  the 
administration  of  the  Post-Office  Department,"  he  "  ven- 
tured on  no  new  theories,  nor  attempted  any  innovations 
on  the  well-tried  system  established  and  practised  upon" 
by  his  predecessors. 

It  was  during  his  administration  that  the  route  from 
New  York  to  New  Orleans  was  considerably  improved  and 
transportation  facilitated;*  also  the  mail-service  on  the 

*  This  took  place  on  the  1st  of  July,  1857,  by  which  the  mails  were 
to  be  conveyed  between  Washington  and  New  Orleans  in  four  days  and 
a  half,  by  way  of  Richmond  and  Lynchburg,  Virginia,  Bristol,  Knox- 


POSTMASTERS.  215 

Mississippi  River  below  the  Ohio  was  materially  changed 
and  improved. 

The  overland  mail-service  to  California  by  the  Southern 
route  by  contract  became  an  agitating  subject,  and  under 
proposals  approved  by  an  act  of  Congress,  March  3,  1857, 
various  bids  were  made  by  parties  for  carrying  the  mail. 
The  contract  was  made  on  the  16th  of  September,  1857, 
with  certain  parties,  at  a  cost  of  $600,000  per  annum. 
(See  Report  for  the  year  1857.} 

JOSEPH  HOLT  succeeded  Aaron  Yail  Brown,  who  died 
March,  1858,  in  alluding  to  which  Mr.  Holt  uses  the  fol- 
lowing language: — 

"  POST-OFFICE  DEPARTMENT, 

December  3,  1859. 

"  SIR  : — In  the  month  of  March  last,  the  sudden  decease 
of  my  enlightened  and  deeply-lamented  predecessor,  im- 
mediately preceded  as  it  was  by  the  death  of  the  Third 
Assistant  Postmaster-General, — so  long  and  so  honorably 
connected  with  the  administration  of  the  postal  revenues, 
— filled  this  department  with  discouragement  and  gloom. 
Associated  with  this  double  calamity  came  another,  which 
awakened  painful  anxieties,  not  only  from  its  intrinsic 
magnitude,  but  from  the  fact  that  the  history  of  the  gov- 
ernment, from  its  foundation,  furnished  no  parallel  for 
such  a  disaster.  My  allusion  is,  of  course,  to  the  failure  of 
Congress  to  pass  the  customary  appropriation  bill  for  the 
support  of  the  Post-Office  Department,  whereby,  with  all 
its  responsibilities  resting  upon  it  and  the  fulfilment  of  all 
its  duties  demanded  by  the  country,  it  was  still  deprived 
of  the  use  of  its  own  revenues,  and  thus,  necessarily,  of  all 

ville,  Chattanooga,  and  Grand  Junction,  Tennessee,  and  Jackson,  Mis- 
sissippi,— all  by  railroad,  with  the  exception  of  a  gap  of  ninety  milea 
in  Mississippi. 


216  POSTMASTERS. 

means  of  complying  with  its  engagements  to  the  faithful 
officers  toiling  in  its  service.  The  ordeal  so  unexpectedly 
prepared  for  it  was,  in  all  its  aspects,  as  novel  as  it  was 
perplexing;  and  disquieting  apprehensions  were  naturally 
felt  for  the  result." 

This  was  rather  discouraging  to  Mr.. Holt,  who,  how- 
ever, displayed  much  business  tact  and  perseverance  under 
the  circumstances,  for  he  immediately  issued  the  following 
notice : — 

"  To  POSTMASTEES  AND  OTHER  AGENTS  AND  EMPLOYEES 
"OF  THE  POST-OFFICE  DEPARTMENT. 

"  Congress  having  failed  to  make  the  necessary  appro- 
priation at  its  last  session  for  the  publication  of  a  Manual 
of  Post-Offices,  Laws,  and  Regulations,  now  greatly 
needed,  and  the  department  not  having  sufficient  clerical 
force  at  its  disposal  for  the  preparation  of  such  a  work,  I 
have  deemed  it  proper,  in  accordance  with  the  course  pur- 
sued by  two  of  my  predecessors,  to  purchase,  for  the  use 
of  the  department,  the  necessary  number  of  copies  of  a 
private  edition,  having  first  caused  an  examination  to  be 
made  as  to  its  correctness. 

"The  volume  now  sent  is  adopted  as  official,  and  you 
will  be  guided  by  it  accordingly. 

"J.  HOLT,  Postmaster- General 

"POST-OFFICE  DEPARTMENT,  May  15,  1859." 

The  consequences  resulting  from  the*  failure  of  Congress 
to  make  the  necessary  appropriation  alluded  to  by  Mr. 
-Holt  were  materially  felt  by  those  who  in  good  faith  had 
performed  their  duty,  by  being  compelled  to  obtain  ad- 
vances on  their  claims  at  a  fearful  sacrifice.  Mr.  Holt, 
alluding  to  this,  says, — 

"It  is  to  be  feared,  however,  that  those  whose  circum- 
stances obliged  them  to  dispose  of  these  securities  have  in 


POSTMASTERS.  217 

many  cases  been  compelled  to  submit  to  a  heavy  discount. 
I  would  most  earnestly  urge  upon  Congress  the  necessity 
of  making  an  early  appropriation  to  meet  all  the  existing 
liabilities  of  the  department.  As  the  faith  of  the  govern- 
ment has  been  broken,  not  only  should  the  principal  of 
these  debts  be  promptly  paid,  but  interest  on  them  should 
also  be  allowed.  In  many  instances  this  may  prove  but 
an  imperfect  indemnity  for  the  damage  which  the  creditors 
of  the  department  have  actually  sustained ;  but  this  much, 
at  least,  is  due,  from  the  gravest  considerations  of  public 
justice  and  policy,  and  cannot,  in  my  judgment,  be  with- 
held without  national  dishonor." 

HORATIO  KING  was  postmaster-general  for  a  short  time. 
He  had,  of  course,  no  opportunity  of  displaying  those 
qualities  which  a  long  connection  with  the  postal  depart- 
ment had  enabled  him  to  acquire.  The  appointment  of 
Montgomery  Blair,  which  was  a  settled  matter,  as  the 
successor  of  Mr.  Holt,  limited  his  services.  Glancing 
over  official  postal  documents,  we  find  his  name  frequently 
coupled  with  important  matters  in  the  department.  It  was 
during  his  short  service  as  postmaster-general  that  the 
celebrated  additional  articles  were  made  to  those  of  the 
convention  of  March  2,  1857,  between  the  post-office  of 
the  United  States  and  the  general  post-office  of  France. 
(See  Report  of  the  Postmaster- General  for  the  fiscal  year 
ending  June  30,  1861.} 

MONTGOMERY  BLAIR. — This  gentleman  was  appointed 
postmaster-general  in  1861,  forming  one  of  the  Cabinet 
under  the  administration  of  Abraham  Lincoln. 

Perhaps  history  affords  no  parallel  to  the  state  of  affairs 
in  our  country  when  Abraham  Lincoln  took  the  Presiden- 
tial chair.  Our  readers  are  all  familiar  with  the  Listory 
of  this  rebellion.  We  will  not  go  over  the  grounds, 

19 


218  POSTMASTERS. 

dark  and  bloody  as  they  are:  suffice  to  say,  the  blow 
was  struck,  and  treason  assumed  a  bold  and  formidable 
front.  The  Constitution,  even  from  its  adoption,  with 
all  its  amendments,  has  ever  been  a  fruitful  subject  of 
dispute,  more  particularly  with  those  whose  interests 
were  identified  with  the  institution  of  slavery.  To  keep 
that  peculiar  institution — a  relic  of  barbarism — intact, 
with  their  ideas  of  labor,  men  South  advocated  the 
idea  that  a  sovereignty  of  States  and  their  separate  in- 
dependency of  the  Union  were  guaranteed  to  them  by 
the  Constitution.  This  fatal  error  misled  the  ignorant: 
men  of  intellect,  men  educated  in  the  Union,  living  under 
its  Constitution  and  heretofore  abiding  by  its  laws,  preached 
up  a  Utopian  scheme  to  these  misguided  men.  The  South 
was  to  become  the  Eden  of  the  world,  and  slavery  its 
Magna  Charta. 

In  the  early  part  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  administration  we 
edited  a  paper  established  for  the  purpose  of  maintaining 
his  position  and  opposing  the  spirit  of  treason  working  its 
way  North.  We  annex  the  following  extract  from  an 
editorial  article  we  wrote  in  1861,  being  one  of  the  editors 
of  the  "  National  Guard,"  a  paper  devoted  to  the  cause 
of  the  Union,  the  whole  Union,  and  nothing  but  the 
Union : — 

"When  this  distinguished  man  was  first  nominated  for 
the  Presidency,  the  grounds  taken  by  the  opposition  were 
his  abolition  proclivities.  Few  people  in  the  North  were 
willing  that  the  institution  of  slavery  should  go  down 
beneath  the  Lincoln  banner,  and  hence  the  increased 
opposition  to  the  nomination  and  the  powerful  efforts  to 
frustrate  his  election.  He  was  elected:  he  became  the 
President  of  these  United  States  lawfully  in  the  sight 
of  men  and  of  nations,  and  equally  so  in  the  sight  of 
the  Almighty.  As  President  of  the  whole  Union  he 
took  his  seat.  Men  who  expected  to  hear  the  thunder- 


POSTMASTERS.  219 

tones  of  his  official  voice,  "down  with  the  South  and 
slavery/'  were  surprised  when  they  read  his  opinion  upon 
the  subject  as  President,  differing  in  some  respects  from 
that  expressed  as  a  mere  citizen.  Being  President,  the 
various  State  interests  had  to  be  consulted:  the  South 
was  upheaving  with  the  curse  of  slavery  upon  it,  and  four 
millions  of  human  beings  were  crying  out  for  mercy.  The 
position  in  which  Mr.  Lincoln  was  placed  was  a  most 
delicate  one:  he  could  not  maintain  the  high  fanatical 
notions  of  many  Northern  men,  nor  would  he  indorse 
the  actions  of  the  Southerners,  who  feared  that  if  the 
administration  limited  slavery  it  would  ultimately  lead  to 
a  decadency  in  their  trade  in  human  flesh.  This  was  the 
state  of  matters  when,  in  his  appeal  to  the  people  for  aid, 
he  assured  the  South  that  he  did  not  intend,  in  his  official 
capacity,  to  interfere  with  their  peculiar  institution.  Then 
the  South  dashed  back  the  offered  cup  of  peace  presented 
to  them  in  good  faith,  and  spurned  the  hand  that  held  it 
towards  them.  They  feared  the  man;  they  feared  the 
popular  opinion  uprising  against  slavery,  and,  deeming  a 
portion  of  the  North  favorable  to  their  cause,  reared  at 
once  the  standard  of  rebellion. 

"  Let  our  readers  glance  back  to  that  period ;  let  them 
take  a  view  of  a  tall,  pale  man  seated  in  the  chair  of  state ; 
let  them  look  into  his  eyes,  his  soul,  and  see  and  even 
hear  the  beating  pulse  of  the  nation's  heart  in  his  every 
fibre;  let  them  look  out  and  over  the  land  and  hear  the 
maniacs  of  treason  crying  for  his  blood;  let  them  look 
North,  and  even  there  hear  the  rebel  sympathizers  breath- 
ing curses  loud  and  deep ;  let  them  read  the  first  call  for 
75,000  troops,  written  with  a  nervous  hand  and  a  quailing 
heart ;  then  look !  behold !  a  nation  obeys  the  call  of  the 
President,  and  the  voice  of  the  Union-loving  people  cheers 
and  upholds  him  in  his  seat.  The  rebels  find  no  open 
aid  North.  Covert,  treacherous  scoundrels,  descendants 


220  POSTMASTERS. 

of  traitors,  thieves,  and  murderers,  met,  it  is  true,  in  secret 
councils,  but  soon  fell  into  their  earthly  hell  before  the 
indignant  glance  of  an  aroused  people. 

"  Where  now  is  slavery?  Who  struck  at  its  very  root 
and  sent  it  shivering  into  pieces  throughout  the  land? 
The  very  men  who  perfected  and  planned  this  revolution. 

"Serpent-like,  they  bit  themselves,  and  are  now  dying 
of  the  poison.  Throughout  the  whole  of  these  trying 
scenes — from  the  firing  on  Fort  Sumter  to  the  present — 
Abraham  Lincoln  has  stood  up  firmly  and  consistently  for 
the  nation.  Party  questions  have  been  repudiated  and  all 
sectional  distinctions  laid  aside;  for  he  had  but  one  object, 
that  of  saving  the  Union!  If  to  do  this  the  destruction  of 
the  institution  of  slavery  was  necessary,  its  being  power- 
less, helpless,  and  dead  cannot  be  laid  to  his  charge:  it 
fell  a  victim  to  the  acts  of  men  who  attempted  to  place  it 
above  the  Constitution,  and  in  the  doing  of  which  they 
have  crushed  it  and  themselves  out  of  the  Union.  Thank 
God  for  this,  the  only  good  they  have  done!"* 

Mr.  Lincoln's  Cabinet  was  composed  of  men  who  set 
themselves  to  work  in  earnest.  What  they  have  done  is 
now  our  country's  glory,  our  nation's  triumph. 

Mr.  Blair,  in  his  first  report,  speaking  of  the  com- 
mencement of  his  term  of  office,  says, — 

"Soon  after  the  commencement  of  my  term  of  office, 
the  country  felt  the  shock  of  internecine  arms.  In  view 
of  the  great  crime  attempted  against  the  existence  of  the 
nation,  it  became  the  duty  of  this,  in  common  with  the 
other  departments  of  the  government,  to  put  forth  all 
its  energies  to  prevent  the  consummation  of  that  crime. 
By  the  existing  laws,  all  postmasters  and  mail-carriers,  and 
all  other  persons  engaged  in  handling  the  mails  of  the 
United  States,  or  in  clerical  service,  were  required  to  take 

*  See  Addenda. 


POSTMASTERS.  221 

the  usual  oath  of  allegiance  to  this  government,  as  well  as 
for  the  faithful  performance  of  their  duties.  Whenever  it 
was  made  apparent  by  their  declarations  or  by  their  conduct 
.  that  there  was  a  practical  repudiation  of  the  obligation  of 
this  oath,  whether  the  party  was  a  .postmaster  or  a  postal 
contractor,  I  ordered  a  removal  from  office  in  the  one  case 
and  the  deprivation  of  contract  in  the  other.  Not  only 
was  it  unsafe  to  intrust  the  transportation  of  the  mails  to 
a  person  who  refused  or  .failed  to  recognize  the  sanctions 
of  an  oath,  but  to  continue  payment  of  public  money  to 
the  enemies  of  the  government  and  their  allies  was  to  give 
direct  aid  and  comfort  to  treason  in  arms.  I  could  not 
thus  permit  this  branch  of  government  to  contribute  to  its 
own  overthrow.  No  other  course  could  have  reasonably 
been  expected  by  such  contractors.  The  bond  fide  observ- 
ance of  that  oath,  and  the  duty  of  allegiance  itself,  entered 
into  and  became  a  condition,  a  part  of  the  consideration, 
of  the  contract  itself.  This  failing,  the  department  was 
equitably  and  legally  discharged  from  its  literal  obligations. 
Protection  on  the  part  of  the  government  and  allegiance  on 
the  part  of  the  citizen  are  correlative,  and  are  conditions 
mutually  dependent  in  every  contract;  and  the  highest 
public  interest  demanded  the  rigid  enforcement  of  this  rule 
of  action.  Occasional  local  and  transient  inconvenience 
resulted  of  necessity,  but  far  less  than  wrould  reasonably 
have  been  expected.  Loyal  men  everywhere  sustained 
this  action,  and  speedily  furnished  the  requisite  means  for 
continuing  the  service  without  increased  expense.  These 
changes  were  mainly  called  for  in  parts  of  Virginia  and 
Maryland  and  in  Kentucky  and  Missouri. 

"In  the  same  and  in  neighboring  districts  the  duties  of 
the  appointment-office  have  been  very  onerous,  from  the 
great  number  of  changes  required  in  post-offices,  according 
to  changing  phases  of  public  sentiment,  individual  action, 
and  military  occupancy.  It  is  believed  that  these  positions, 

19* 


222  POSTMASTERS. 

with  rare  exceptions,  are  now  held  by  men  of  unquestioned 
loyalty.  Where  such  men  could  not  be  found,  the  offices 
have  been  discontinued  rather  than  they  should  be  held 
by  repudiators  of  public  faith  and  used  for  purposes  hostile 
to  the  perpetuity  of  our  national  institutions." 

On  the  23d  of  September,  1864,  Montgomery  Blair 
tendered  his  resignation  of  the  office  of  postmaster-general, 
and  the  resignation  was  accepted  by  the  President. 

The  causes  which  led  to  this  action  on  the  part  of  Judge 
Blair  were  of  a  political  character,  and  of  such  a  nature  as 
to  clash  with  the  opinions  of  men  who  could  have  no  feel- 
ings of  sympathy  with  rebels  in  arms.  Among  the  charges 
brought  against  Blair  were  those  of  opposition  to  the 
general  acts  of  the  administration.  In  answer  to  one  of 
these,  made  by  the  editor  of  the  "National  Republican," 
the  judge  wrote  as  follows : — 

"WASHINGTON,  September  26,  1864. 

"EDITOK  OF  THE  NATIONAL  REPUBLICAN. — DEAR 
SIB: — The  statement  contained  in  your  paper  and  other 
journals  that  my  resignation  was  caused  by  the  resolution 
of  the  Baltimore  Convention  referring  to  the  Cabinet,  has, 
I  observe,  led  to  the  inference  that  the  principles  adopted 
by  that  body  were  objectionable  to  me.  This  is  not  true. 
On  the  contrary,  my  offers  were  made  in  good  faith,  with  a 
view  to  allay  animosities  among  the  friends  of  those  prin- 
ciples, and  in  order  to  secure  their  triumph. 

"Yours,  respectfully, 

"M.  BLAIR." 

The  editor  of  the  "United  States  Mail,"  a  most  valu- 
able post-office  assistant,  published  in  New  York,  noticing 
Judge  Blair's  resignation  and  letter,  says, — 

"That  the  official  course  of  Judge  Blair  as  postmaster- 
general  has  furnished  no  cause  of  dissatisfaction,  and  had 


POSTMASTERS.  223 

no  connection  with  his  resignation,  is  a  fact  vouched  for 
by  the  President,  who,  in  his  letter  of  the  23d,  says, — 

"  '  While  it  is  true  that  the  war  does  not  so  greatly  add 
to  the  difficulties  of  your  department  as  to  those  of  some 
others,  it  is  yet  much  to  say,  as  I  most  truly  can,  that  in 
the  three  years  and  a  half  during  which  you  have  admi- 
nistered the  general  post-office  I  remember  no  single  com- 
plaint against  you  in  connection  therewith/ 

"Judge  Blair's  administration  of  the  post-office  depart- 
ment has  given  evidence  of  a  sincere  desire  to  promote  the 
efficiency  of  the  service,  and  has  been  marked  by  the 
introduction  of  many  important  improvements  and  re- 
forms,— among  them  the  establishment  of  the  money-order 
system  and  the  new  travelling  post-office,  the  simplifica- 
tion of  post-office  accounts  by  the  substitution  of  salaries 
in  lieu  of  commissions  as  compensation  to  postmasters,  the 
free  delivery  of  letters  by  carriers,  with  various  other 
plans  calculated  to  increase  the  postal  accommodation  of 
the  public  and  further  the  interests  of  the  service.  He 
has  been  a  faithful  and  efficient  head  of  the  department, 
and,  as  such,  leaves  a  record  of  which  he  has  no  cause  to 
be  ashamed."* 

There  is  no  question  whatever  that  Postmaster-General 
Blair  studied  the  interest  of  the  department  with  an  eye 
to  its  future  destiny.  He  nourished  it,  watched  it,  and 
we  may  well  say  the  postal  tree  is  now  known  and  appre- 
ciated by  its  fruit.  In  1863  the  "Boston  Weekly  Gazette" 
thus  speaks  of  him : — 

"At  a  time  when  war  and  finance  are  the  all-absorbing 
themes,  nationally  speaking,  but  little  attention  is  paid  to 
the  most  quiet  of  our  government  departments,  but  none 
the  less  important, — the  post-office.  Of  the  management 

*  The  postal  money-order  system  was  approved  by  Congress,  May  17, 
1864.  It  went  into  operation  July  4,  1864. 


224  POSTMASTERS. 

of  this  department  too  much  cannot  be  said  in  its  praise. 
When  every  thing  is  confused  with  crowded  railroads 
and  the  interruption  of  conveyance  threatened  by  the  exi- 
gencies of  other  public  service,  every  thing  proceeds  in 
the  post-office  department  with  almost  the  regularity  of 
clock-work.  Scarcely  a  mail  fails  in  its  destination,  any 
more  than  if  peace  prevailed  in  the  land  and  men  had 
nothing  to  do  but  to  think  of  duty  connected  with  trans- 
portation exclusively.  "We  think  Postmaster-General 
Blair  entitled  to  the  warmest  praise  for  this  state  of  things, 
that  certainly  redounds  greatly  to  his  credit.  No  man 
has  ever  filled  his  position  who  has  received  more 
unanimity  of  approval;  and  not  a  complaint  is  heard  of 
his  management.  We  make  these  remarks  simply  because 
it  has  surprised  us  that  our  own  papers  to  the  farthest 
points  reach  with  such  regularity  and  promptness,  and 
letters  from  all  parts  of  the  country  come  to  us  strictly  on 
time." 

The  history  of  Judge  Blair  since  his  resignation  is 
identified  with  that  of  our  politics,  in  which  he  seems  to 
take  a  peaceful  interest. 

WILLIAM  DENNISON. — On  the  resignation  of  the  Hon. 
Montgomery  Blair,  the  President  appointed  this  gentleman 
postmaster-general.  This  appointment,  of  course,  was 
made  to  reconcile  political  interest  and  extend  to  Ohio 
the  right  hand  of  government  friendship,  and  not  from 
any  great  knowledge  Mr.  Dennison  was  supposed  to  have 
of  postal  matters.  In  this  country  prominent  positions 
under  government  are  the  result  of  the  recipient's  status 
in  political  circles.  It  is,  therefore,  evident  that  a  know- 
ledge of  its  duties  is  not  an  important  requisite  qualifica- 
tion for  the  office. 

William  Dennison  was  born  in  the  city  of  Cincinnati, 
on  the  9th  day  of  November,  1815.  His  father  was  well 


POSTMASTERS.  225 

known  through  more  than  half  a  century  as  a  popular 
and  prosperous  innkeeper  in  the  young  and  rapidly  grow- 
ing city,  no  citizen  in  the  whole  community  being  more 
respected  for  probity  and  general  worth  among  the  pioneer 
settlers  of  Ohio  and  their  descendants.  He  took  great 
pride  in  his  promising  son,  young  William,  and  largely 
devoted  his  pecuniary  means  to  secure  the  boy  a  thorough 
and  solid  classical  education.  In  preparation  for  his  col- 
lege course  he  had  the  benefit  of  the  best  schools  and 
teachers  in  his  native  city,  and  in  the  year  1831  he  entered 
freshman  in  the  Miami  University  at  Oxford,  Ohio,  then 
and  now  a  flourishing  and  highly-respected  institution, 
which  has  educated  many  of  the  most  prominent  and 
powerful  minds  of  the  great  and  populous  region  north 
of  the  Ohio  River,  among  whom  are  Caleb  B.  Smith,  late 
Secretary  of  the  Interior  and  formerly  United  States 
judge  in  Indiana,  now  deceased,  Major-General  Robert 
C.  Schenck,  Samuel  Galloway,  William  S.  Groesbeck, 
George  E.  Pugh,  and  others  of  equal  note. 

In  September,  1835,  near  the  close  of  his  twentieth 
year,  he  graduated  with  high  honor  to  himself  and  the 
university,  then  under  the  long  successful  presidency  of 
the  Rev.  R.  H.  Bishop,  D.D.,  a  learned  and  venerated 
Presbyterian  clergyman,  who  had  early  been  induced  to 
migrate  from  Scotland  to  the  Northern  United  States  by 
the  solicitation  and  in  the  company  of  a  renowned  divine, 
John  Mason,  of  the  Scotch  Presbyterian  Church  in  New 
York,  who  at  that  time  brought  over  a  very  useful  and 
famous  little  clerical  colony  to  this  country. 

Young  Dennison  then  immediately  returned  to  Cincin- 
nati, and  there  commenced  the  study  of  law  in  the  office 
of  Hon.  Nathaniel  G.  Pendleton  (father  of  the  Democratic 
candidate  for  the  Vice-Presidency)  and  Stephen  Fales, 
one  of  the  most  eminent  lawyers  of  the  West,  in  his  youth 
a  classmate  of  Daniel  Webster  at  Dartmouth  College  and 


226  POSTMASTERS. 

always  his  intimate  personal  friend.  Completing  his 
legal  studies  and  admitted  to  the  bar,  he  began  the  prac- 
tice of  his  profession  in  his  native  city.  Soon  afterwards 
he  married  the  beautiful  and  highly-educated  daughter  of 
William  Neil,  of  Columbus  (the  State  capital),  a  famous 
and  extensive  mail-contractor  throughout  the  Northwest, 
whose  name  was  very  familiar  to  travellers  and  newspaper- 
readers  twenty  or  thirty  years  ago,  in  the  days  of  stage- 
coaches, when  railroad  enterprise  was  in  its  infancy  at  the 
West. 

In  1840  he  formed  a  law-partnership  with  the  once 
famous,  but  now  infamous,  Albert  Pike,  poet,  jurist,  and 
rebel  general,  Indian  savage  by  adoption  and  taste,  leader 
of  scalping-parties,  &c.  In  the  execution  of  that  arrange- 
ment he  removed  to  Little  Rock,  the  capital  of  Arkansas. 
But  the  conditions — moral,  intellectual,  social,  and  po- 
litical— by  which  he  found  himself  there  surrounded  in- 
duced him,  after  a  brief  residence  and  experience,  to 
terminate  the  connection  and  return  to  Cincinnati,  where 
he  resumed  his  professional  business.  In  1842,  at  the 
earnest  solicitation  of  his  father-in-law,  he  removed  to 
Columbus,  which  became  thenceforth  his  home.  He  was 
made  solicitor  of  the  Clinton  Bank,  of  that  city,  then 
president  of  the  Bank  of  Columbus;  and  he  finally 
accepted  the  entire  management  and  control  of  all  the 
vast  mail-contract  and  post-road  business  of  Mr.  Neil 
throughout  the  region  between  the  Ohio  and  the  great 
lakes. 

In  politics  Mr.  Dennison  was  an  original  Whig.  Through- 
out the  existence  of  that  party  organization  he  was  a  firm, 
consistent,  and  zealously-active  member  of  it.  In  1847 
he  was  elected  to  a  two-years  term  in  the  Ohio  Senate. 
He  next  served  as  president  of  the  Columbus  &  Xenia 
Railroad  until  1859,  when,  having  been  chosen  by  the 
Republican  party  Governor  of  the  State,  he  resigned  his 


.POSTMASTERS.  227 

position  in  connection  with  corporations.  The  great  re- 
bellion found  him  commander-in-chief  of  Ohio.  He  im- 
mediately organized  and  placed  at  the  disposal  of  the 
Federal  Government  seventy  thousand  troops,  and  in  offer- 
ing them  gave  to  George  B.  McClellan  and  William  S. 
Kosecrans  their  first  commissions  as  general  officers. 

Governor  Dennison  is  a  working  business-man.  He  is 
an  impressive  orator,  tall  in  person,  of  courtly  but  win- 
ning manners.  He  is  a  good  specimen  of  a  Christian 
gentleman,  a  devoted  member  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal 
Church. 

Mr.  Dennison,  immediately  upon  entering  the  precincts 
of  the  postal  bureau,  commenced  the  study  of  the  peculiar 
as  well  as  intricate  business  of  the  department.  His  active 
mind,  tact,  and  general  knowledge  soon  mastered  many 
of  its  intricacies,  and,  with  a  precision  which  surprised  the 
more  knowing  ones  of  the  office,  arranged  and  alphabeted 
its  business  in  such  a  manner  as  to  facilitate  operations 
and  lessen  actual  labor.  By  this  time  Governor  Dennison 
is,  no  doubt,  quite  familiar  with  the  business  of  a  post- 
office. 

MAILS   TO   CHINA   AND   JAPAN. 

One  of  the  most  important  postal  arrangements  under 
this  gentleman's  administration  is  the  establishing  by 
steamships  a  postal  communication  with  China  and  Japan. 
Congress  passed  a  law,  February  17,  1865,  authorizing  the 
postmaster  to  contract  for  such  conveyance.  The  tender 
of  "  The  Pacific  Mail  Steamship  Company,"  the  only  one 
offered,  was  accepted  and  engaged  for  the  service.  The 
compensation  therefor  is  $500,000  per  annum  for  the 
performance  of  twelve  round  trips  between  San  Francisco 
and  Hong-Kong,  China,  touching  at  Honolulu  in  the 
Sandwich  Islands,  and  Kanagawa  in  Japan. 

This  is  one  of  the  greatest  events  of  the  day,  and  in- 


228  POSTMASTERS. 

augurates  a  new  era  in  the  commerce  of  our  country. 
Unless  the  United  States,  however,  unites  all  her  great 
advantages  and  brings  them  to  bear  upon  her  foreign 
relations  in  such  a  manner  as  to  place  her  commerce  on  a 
footing  with  that  of  other  nations,  the  mere  fact  of  a  new 
era  with  these  is  simply  a  postal  experiment.  It  is  for 
us  to  become  masters  of  the  commerce  of  the  world ;  and 
with  this  line  of  steamers  regularly  established,  and  the 
completion  of  the  Pacific  Railway,  there  is  nothing  to 
stand  in  the  way  of  success. 

Postmaster  Dennison,  taking  this  view  of  it,  says,  in  his 
annual  report,  1864, — 

"  There  are  other  ocean-routes  besides  the  one  to  Brazil 
which  can  be  safely  and  profitably  occupied  by  American 
lines  of  mail-steamers, — among  which  the  route  between 
San  Francisco,  Japan,  and  China,  at  present  unoccupied 
by  foreign  mail-packets,  is  perhaps  the  most  important  in 
a  commercial  point  of  view,  and  may  be  made  available 
in  securing  to  us  a  large  participation  in  the  commerce  of 
the  East,  the  greater  portion  of  which  is  now  enjoyed  by 
Great  Britain  through  her  mail-steamship  connections  vid 
Suez  in  the  Indian  Ocean  and  China  Seas. 

"The  central  position  of  the  United  States,  between 
Eastern  Asia  and  Western  Europe,  affording  routes  but 
little  longer,  if  any,  than  those  now  traversed  between 
these  distant  regions,  aided  by  the  superior  expedition  of 
railway  transportation  between  the  Atlantic  and  Pacific 
coasts,  will  furnish  such  facilities  as  will  make  their 
adoption  a  practical  necessity  for  the  commercial  inter- 
course between  Europe  and  the  populous  countries  of 
Eastern  Asia.  These  considerations,  and  others  which 
will  readily  suggest  themselves,  render  it  important  that 
the  Pacific  routes  properly  belonging  to  us  should  be 
occupied  by  American  mail -steamers,  the  profits  of  which, 
with  the  addition  of  a  small  subsidy  for  the  mail-service, 


POSTMASTERS.  229 

would  justify  the  establishment  of  one  or  more  steamship- 
lines  which  would  be  remunerative  to  the  proprietors." 

Now  that  the  rebellion  is  ended,  those  steamers  which 
were  withdrawn  during  its  progress,  thus  affording  foreign 
powers  all  the  advantage  of  ocean  lines,  will  no  doubt 
resume  their  voyages  for  the  benefit  of  our  own. 


230  PHILADELPHIA. 


XII. 

—  1793. 


THE  prospects  of  Philadelphia  were  brightening  up 
under  the  influence  enterprising  men  exercised  over  its 
commercial  interest;  and  up  to  1794  the  manufactures, 
trade,  and  general  business  were  rapidly  extending  and 
improving.  Mathew  Carey,  speaking  of  our  city  and 
prospects,  in  a  pamphlet  published  in  1793,  says,  — 

"  From  the  period  of  the  adoption  of  the  Federal  Gov- 
ernment, at  which  time  America  was  at  the  lowest  ebb  of 
distress,  her  situation  had  progressively  become  more  and 
more  prosperous.  Confidence,  formerly  banished,  was 
universally  restored.  Property  of  every  kind  rose  to,  and 
in  many  instances  beyond,  its  real  value  ;  and  a  few  re- 
volving years  exhibited  the  interesting  spectacle  of  a 
young  country  with  a  new  form  of  government  emerging 
from  a  state  which  had  approached  very  near  to  anarchy, 
and  acquiring  all  the  stability  and  nerve  of  the  best-toned 
and  oldest  nations."  In  this  prosperity,  which  revived 
the  almost  extinguished  hopes  of  four  millions  of  people, 
Philadelphia  participated  in  an  eminent  degree.  Num- 
bers of  new  houses  in  almost  every  street,  built  in  a  neat, 
elegant  style,  adorned,  at  the  same  time  that  they  greatly 
enlarged,  the  city.  Its  population  was  extending  fast: 
even  at  that  period  the  number  of  vessels  that  entered  the 
port  was  1050.  Philadelphia  still  retained  its  predilec- 
tion for  old  sites  and  associations;  for  up  to  this  period, 
and  even  long  afterwards,  the  main  place  of  business  was 
Front  and  Water  Streets,  extending  along  those  streets 
from  Race  down  to  Almond.  Front  Street  below  Market, 


PHILADELPHIA.  231 

extending  down  to  Walnut,  was  the  great  commercial 
centre  of  trade.  It  was  here  Thomas  Bradford,  the  root 
of  the  present  generation  of  that  name,  was  prominent  as 
an  editor  of  the  newspaper  called  "  The  True  American :" 
his  office  was  on  the  west  side  of  Front  Street,  below 
Market,  No.  8.  This  property  was  subsequently  sold  to 
John  Moss,  Esq.,  upon  the  site  of  which  he  built  a  store 
especially  for  his  business.  Bradford  sold  out  "  The  True 
American"  to  Thomas  T.  Stiles. 

In  1791  the  post-office  was  at  No.  7  South  Front  Street, 
on  the  east  side.  Robert  Patton  was  postmaster:  he  was 
appointed  to  that  position  August  25,  1791.  In  1793  it 
was  removed  to  No.  36,  in  the  very  centre  of  the  trade 
and  commerce  of  the  city. 

The  building  of  the  "Insurance  Company  of  North 
America"  stood  at  the  southeast  corner  of  Front  and 
Walnut  Streets.  Ebenezer  Hazard,  formerly  postmaster- 
general,  was  the  Secretary.  The  custom-house  was  also 
on  Front  Street  near  Walnut  Street:  it  occupied  seventy- 
six  feet  front,  and  ran  through  to  Water  Street. 

Much  of  the  early  prosperity  of  this  city  was  due  to 
Benjamin  Franklin,  who  early  in  life  made  it  his  dwelling- 
place.  His  business  motto  was  PROGRESS. 

The  fever  of  1793,  the  most  malignant  scourge  our  city 
ever  witnessed,  not  excepting  the  cholera  of  1832,  threw 
a  saddening  gloom  over  all  things,  paralyzing  the  energies 
of  men  and  carrying  terror  among  the  women  and  chil- 
dren. A  writer  of  the  time,  speaking  of  it,  says,  "The 
consternation  of  the  people  of  Philadelphia  at  this 
period  was  carried  beyond  all  bounds.  Dismay  and 
affright  were  visible  in  almost  every  person's  countenance. 
Most  of  those  who  could  by  any  means  make  it  convenient 
fled  from  the  city.  Of  those  who  remained,  many  shut 
themselves  up  in  their  houses,  being  afraid  to  walk  the 
streets." 


232  PHILADELPHIA. 

Business  was  at  a  stand,  if  not  entirely  suspended. 
That  of  the  post-office  went  on  as  usual.  In  September, 
however,  the  postmaster  informed  the  public  that,  in  con- 
sequence of  the  indisposition  of  two  of  the  letter-carriers 
he  deemed  it  necessary  to  request  all  those  who  dwelt  south 
of  and  in  Chestnut  Street,  and  in  Front  and  Water  Streets 
and  north  of  Market  Street,  to  call  or  send  for  their  letters 
for  a  few  days.  Some  of  the  postmasters  in  the  different 
States  used  the  precaution  to  dip  Philadelphia  letters  into 
vinegar  with  a  pair  of  tongs  before  they  handled  them ! 
Several  of  the  subscribers  to  Philadelphia  papers  made 
their  servants  sprinkle  them  with  vinegar  and  dry  them 
at  the  fire  before  they  would  venture  to  touch  them. 

One  hundred  years  ago,  Benjamin  Franklin,  seeing  that 
Philadelphia  was  gradually  declining  in  the  scale  of  pro- 
gress, awoke  the  Kip  Van  Winkles  of  Quakerdom  by 
imparting  to  them  new  ideas,  furnishing  to  their  mental 
view  more  enlarged  notions  of  life,  liberty,  and  the  pursuit 
of  happiness,  and  inaugurating  a  system  of  education  and 
philosophy  which  has  made  his  name  famous  in  the  world's 
history. 

His  connection  with  the  postal  department  placed  it 
before  the  people  in  a  new  and  improved  light,  extending 
trade  and  commerce  by  its  means  to  such  an  extent  that 
in  the  year  1810  Philadelphia  was  the  leading  commercial 
city  in  the  Union. 

Philadelphia,  however,  lost  sight  of  one  important  fact 
in  connection  with  her  commercial  interest,  and  that  was 
(to  use  a  speculating  phrase)  "  never  to  lose  a  trick"  in  the 
game  of  opposition  with  others.  Thus,  while  New  York 
was  studying  the  taste  of  the  town  in  regard  to  fashions 
of  dress  and  works  of  art,  for  which  European  nations 
were  then  celebrated,  Philadelphia  was  engaged  in  looking 
after  her  manufacturing  interests.  The  consequence  was 
that  in  the  year  1811  New  York,  taking  advantage  of  her 


POST-OFFICE.  233 

seaboard  situation,  took  the  lead  in  importations,  and  her 
market  became  celebrated  for  its  rich  style  of  dress-goods, 
and  her  stores  equally  so  for  their  gorgeous  display  of 
Parisian  finery.  Instantly  that  .current  of  trade  which  had 
set  in  so  favorably  for  Philadelphia  changed  its  course  to 
her  rival  city,  and  merchants  from  the  South  and  West 
flocked  there  for  what,  we  regret  to  say,  our  city  was 
unable  to  furnish  to  the  extent  its  facilities  afforded. 

It  seems  as  if  Philadelphia  succumbed  at  once  to  New 
York,  and  permitted  the  Western  and  Southern  trade  to 
pass  away  from  her  without  a  struggle.  For  years  the 
commerce  of  Philadelphia  had  kept  pace  with  the  general 
progress  of  the  country,  but  in  a  moment  of  weakness,  or 
from  some  local  or  political  cause,  her  merchants,  whose 
industry  and  enterprise  had  been  proverbial  in  all  coun- 
tries, gave  up  their  shipping  interest  to  a  rival  city,  which 
the  latter  has  successfully  maintained  ever  since.  By  this 
act  Philadelphia  became  an  inland  city. 

If  we  neglected  our  shipping,  it  cannot  be  said  we  neg- 
lected our  manufacturers.  They  have  had  ample  reason  to 
be  grateful  for  such  encouragement,  as  the  city  has  the 
honor  of  being  considered  second  to  none  in  the  country, — 
at  least  in  this  department.  We  have  surpassed  New  York 
in  many  important  branches  of  mechanics,  and  excelled 
every  other  city  in  the  Union,  perhaps  in  the  world,  in 
manufacturing  locomotives  and  other  essential  auxiliaries 
to  steamboats,  railroads,  &c. 

POST-OFFICE. 

As  trade  and  commerce  progressed,  the  postal  depart- 
ment extended  its  operations,  and  the  Philadelphia  post- 
office  was  not  behind  those  of  other  cities  in  furthering 
the  cause  of  the  great  postal  institution  of  the  country. 

The  postal  boundaries  of  our  country  extend  over  an 
area  ten  times  greater  than  those  of  England  and  France 

20* 


234         LIST  OF  PHILADELPHIA  POSTMASTERS. 

combined;  three  times  as  large  as  the  whole  of  France, 
Britain,  Austria,  Prussia,  Spain,  Portugal,  Belgium,  Hol- 
land, and  Denmark  together;  one  and  a  half  times  larger 
than  the  Russian  Empire,  and  only  one-sixth  less  than 
the  area  covered  by  sixty  states  and  empires  of  Europe. 
The  entire  area  in  1853  was  2,983,153  square  miles. 

Claiming  for  Philadelphia,  and  justly,  too,  credit  for  its 
postal  as  well  as  its  commercial  reputation,  we  will  pass 
over  some  years  and  bring  our  readers  down  to  a  later 
date.  First,  however,  we  annex  a  list  of  postmasters  of 
Philadelphia  from  1791. 

Perhaps  no  other  city  in  the  Union  can  boast  of  a  list 
of  names  in  their  postal  department  of  men,  both  as  re- 
gards character  and  business  qualifications,  equal  to  those 
we  furnish  here,  and  who  filled  the  office  with  so  much 
honor  and  credit.  We  are  not,  however,  so  clannish  in 
our  notions  of  locality  as  to  include  all  the  names  men- 
tioned here  as  being  entitled  to  such  credit :  we  make  a  few 
exceptions :  those  exceptions  and  the  reasons  are  a  part  of 
the  secret  history  of  post-offices.  Several  of  them  have 
gone  to  that  "bourn  from  whence  no  traveller  returns," 
and  those  that  still  live  live  honored  and  respected. 

LIST  OF  PHILADELPHIA  POSTMASTERS. 

Robert  Patton,  appointed  August  25,  1791. 
Michael  Leib,  appointed  February  14,  1814. 
Richard  Bache,  appointed  Feb.  26,  1819. 
Thomas  Sargeant,  appointed  April  16,  1828. 
James  Page,  appointed  April  11,  1833. 

OFFICE   BECAME   PRESIDENTIAL,   JULY  9,  1783. 

James  Page,  reappointed  July  9,  1836. 
John  C.  Montgomery,  appointed  March  23,  1841. 
James  Hoy,  Jr.,  appointed  June  26,  1844. 
George  F.  Lehman,  appointed  May  5,  1845. 


LIST  OF  PHILADELPHIA  POSTMASTERS.         235 

William  J.  P.  White,  appointed  May  9,  1849. 
John  Miller,  appointed  April  1,  1853. 
Gideon  F.  Westcott,  appointed  March  19,  1857. 
Nathaniel  B.  Browne,  appointed  May  30,  1859. 
Cornelius  A.  Walborn,  appointed  April  20,  1861. 

The  past  history  of  our  city  shows  that  the  post-office 
was  but  a  minor  consideration  on  the  part  of  the  historian 
who  attempted  to  speak  of  its  institutions.  Even  those 
whose  business  it  was  to  furnish  statistics  and  local  facts 
invariably  overlooked  the  post-office.  A  glance  back 
through  the  vista  of  time  presents  to  the  eye  a  panoramic 
view  of  the  buildings  which  were  used  for  postal  purposes; 
and  a  more  motley  architectural  picture  scarcely  ever  pre- 
sented itself  to  sight.  From  the  time  Benjamin  Franklin 
had  his  office  in  a  portion  of  his  printing-shop  to  the  pre- 
sent, we  cannot  find  the  department  ever  blessed  with  even 
a  decent  building  for  postal  purposes  until  the  one  now 
occupied  for  that  special  service  was  erected. 

True,  the  Old  Coffee-House  on  Second  Street  was  the 
centre  of  trade,  and  merchants  often  met  there  to  discuss 
commercial  matters  and  secure  their  foreign  papers  and 
letters :  still,  it  was  not  calculated  for  the  general  business 
of  the  postal  service.  From  1793,  passing  along  from 
street  to  street,  we  at  last  come  to  Dr.  Jayne's  gloomy 
building,  where,  amid  the  sound  of  steam-engines,  the 
fumes  from  eating-houses,  and  the  dead-rat  smell  from 
lager-beer  saloons,  we  find  the  operations  of  the  great 
postal  business  of  the  city  moving  on.  The  very  atmo- 
sphere was  as  injurious  to  the  health  of  the  employees  as 
its  dark  and  dingy  appearance  was  painful  to  those  who 
visited  it. 

Emerging  from  this,  we  come  into  a  new  and  beautiful 
building,  erected  on  Chestnut  Street  below  Fifth.  For  this 
edifice,  so  conveniently  situated,  so  light  and  airy,  so  ad- 


23G  THE  PHILADELPHIA  POST-OFFICE. 

mirably  adapted  to  postal  business,  the  community  is  solely 
indebted  to  Postmaster  COKNELIUS  A.  WALBORN,  Esq. 

A  GLANCE  AT  THE  PHILADELPHIA  POST-OFFICE 
FROM  AN  ARCHITECTURAL  POINT  OF  VIEW. 

The  Philadelphia  post-office  was  completed  and  ready 
for  the  transaction  of  business  on  the  23d  of  March,  1863. 
It  is  situated  on  Chestnut  Street,  between  Fourth  and  Fifth 
Streets,  adjoining  the  custom-house.  The  contrast  between 
these  two  buildings  is  most  remarkable:  one  presents  the 
view  we  have  in  classic  illustrations  of  the  Parthenon  of 
Athens;  the  other,  disdaining  all  the  associations  which 
the  history  of  Greece  and  Rome  throws  around  our  ideas 
of  classic  architectural  beauty,  looms  up  before  us,  blending 
the  style  of  the  rural  districts  of  France  (Alaori)  with  that 
of  the  city  of  Paris  in  the  seventeenth  century. 

The  Exchange  of  Paris  (La  Bourse),  in  the  Rue  Vivi- 
enne,  seems,  at  least  in  part,  to  have  furnished  for  our  post- 
office  the  idea  for  its  architectural  construction.  This  is 
more  observable  in  its  Attic  design,  known  in  the  modern 
French  school  as  the  "  masked  Attic."  The  front  of  the 
Philadelphia  post-office  is  cased  or  veneered  with  white 
marble,  and,  in  connection  with  the  peculiar  Attic  style, 
presents  an  appearance  by  no  means  flattering  to  the  archi- 
tect who  designed  it. 

Modern  architects  consult  variety  rather  than  harmony 
in  drawing  their  plans.  Thus,  foreign  ornaments  of  a  more 
classic  form  are  occasionally  mingled  with  them :  hence 
we  have  presented  to  us  an  incongruous  style,  oifensive 
alike  to  good  taste  and  judgment. 

The  Philadelphia  post-office  reminds  us  very  much  of 
the  Paris  post-office  (Hotel  des  Posies),  which  is  situated 
east  of  the  Palais  Royal :  it  has  a  handsome  front,  but  in 
its  tout  ensemble  does  not  present  to  view  much  architec- 
tural beauty  either  in  style  or  design.  France,  like  Eng- 


THE  PHILADELPHIA  POST-OFFICE.  237 

land,  never  considered  the  architecture  of  a  country  as 
being  inseparable  from  its  history :  hence  her  public  build- 
ings present  to  view  the  combined  peculiarities  of  the 
styles  and  eras  of  the  sixteen  different  orders  which  have 
marked  the  progress  of  architecture  since  the  building  of 
the  great  temple  of  Samos. 

In  this  country,  with  few  exceptions,  we  have  not  studied 
architecture  with  an  eye  to  a  national  feature :  on  the  con- 
trary, our  artists  have  copied  the  styles  of  all  nations, 
from  which  designs  are  made  to  please  the  eye  only, 
without  regard  to  originality  or  the  age  in  which  we  live. 
This  cannot  be  called  an  architectural  construction,  but 
rather  an  adaptation  of  Grecian  models  to  the  buildings 
of  our  own  time.  There  is  no  originality  here. 

A  building  may  be  well  arranged  for  all  purposes  of 
mere  convenience,  but  in  reality,  if  destitute  of  harmony 
in  its  outward  appearance,  it  cannot  be  called  an  archi- 
tectural construction.  This  remark  will  apply  to  the 
buildings  in  our  country  generally,  and  equally,  as  stated, 
to  those  of  England  and  France. 

If  the  Philadelphia  post-office  is  devoid  of  these  re- 
quisites as  regards  its  exterior,  its  interior  makes  full 
amends. 

Every  department  is  so  constructed  and  arranged  that 
there  is  rio  clashing  or  cause  of  impediment  in  the  general 
routine  of  its  business.  Each  man  has  his  position,  each 
bureau  its  place,  and  over  all  the  chief  clerk,  from  an 
elevated  position,  has  an  eye  to  every  action  and  movement 
of  the  employees.  To  Cornelius  A.  Walborn,  Esq.,  the 
present  efficient  postmaster  [1866],  is  the  department  in- 
debted for  the  admirable  arrangements  of  the  Philadelphia 
post-office. 

In  speaking  of  the  outward  appearance  of  "  our  post- 
office/7  we  may  be  singular  in  our  ideas  of  what  constitutes 
architectural  beauty,  and  others  may  appreciate  what  we 


238  THE  PHILADELPHIA  POST-OFFICE. 

censure.  It  is  not,  however,  altogether  a  matter  of  taste 
with  us,  but  a  sense  of  what  constitutes  harmony.  In 
every  thing  that  owes  its  existence  to  nature  alone,  there 
is  harmony.  It  is,  in  fact,  the  music  of  the  spheres  join- 
ing chorus  with  the  growth  of  plants  and  flowers,  which 
the  ancients  believed  came  blooming  into  life  with  music ; 
or,  as  the  poet  says,  it  may  be  "the  language  of  some 
other  state,  born  of  its  memory."  Thus,  in  all  things 
imitative  o£  nature  there  should  be  harmony.  Why  not 
in  art? 

Perhaps  there  is  no  other  block  of  buildings  in  this 
city  that  presents  a  greater  variety  of  architectural  incon- 
gruities than  does  that  wherein  stands  the  Philadelphia 
post-office.  It  may  be  called  a  picturesque  view  of  brick, 
marble,  and  mortar  thrown  together  without  regard  to 
order,  style,  or  harmony. 

Let  the  classic  reader  cast  his  eyes  over  the  topographical 
view  of  Olympia  as  seen  from  the  walls  of  Altis,  glancing 
down  through  the  "  Sacred  Grove"  and  along  the  Alpheus 
Biver :  you  will  see  even  at  that  period,  440  B.C.,  how 
strictly  the  ancients  adhered  to  harmony.  The  Temple 
of  Jupiter  and  the  Prytaneum  or  Senate-house,  although 
widely  different  in  their  architectural  designing,  bore  never- 
theless a  remarkable  similarity  in  style,  so  as  to  preserve 
what  might  be  termed  classic  harmony.  Near  to  the 
Mount  of  Saturn  stood  the  Temple  of  Juno.  In  the 
Temple  of  Vesta,  the  Theatre,  the  Hypodrammon,  even 
to  the  Stables  of  CEnomaus  and  the  Workshop  of  Phidias, 
the  same  harmonic  traits  in  style  and  design  were  observ- 
able. Every  thing  was  classic,  every  thing  artistic. 

How  is  this  feature  observed  with  us  ?  Speaking  of 
the  block  alluded  to  above,  embracing  the  custom-house, 
the  post-office,  the  Philadelphia  Bank,  the  Farmers'  and 
Mechanics'  Bank,  &c.,  perhaps  the  following  scene  from 
J$.  B.  Sheridan's  "School  for  Scandal"  will  give  a  better 


THE  PHILADELPHIA  POST-OFFICE.  239 

description  of  the  style  of  architecture  characterizing  each 
than  any  thing  we  could  furnish. 

The  several  characters  are  describing  the  personal  ap- 
pearance of  a  lady  : — 

"  Orabtree. — She  has  the  oddest  countenance,  a  collection 
of  features  from  all  corners  of  the  globe 

"Sir  Benjamin. — She  has,  indeed,  an  Irish  front. 

"  Orabtree. — Caledonian  locks. 

"Sir  Benjamin. — Dutch  nose. 

"  O)*abtree. — Austrian  lips. 

"Sir  Benjamin. — The  complexion  of  a  Spaniard. 

"  Orabtree. — And  teeth  d  la  Ohinoise. 

"Sir  Benjamin. — In  short,  her  face  resembles  a  table 
d'hote  at  Spa,  where  no  two  guests  are  of  a  nation." 

OUTSIDE  AND  INSIDE  VIEW  OF  THE  PHILADELPHIA 
POST-OFFICE. 

The  outside  of  a  post-office  before  the  opening  of  its 
doors  reminds  one  of  a  vast  sleeping  city,  cold  and  calm, 
though  containing  within  itself  all  the  elements  that  make 
up  a  living,  sleepless  world.  As  the  stars  shine  down  on 
the  earth  and  move  on  in  their  spheres,  so  feeble  lights 
gleam  up  from  the  post-office-windows  to  denote  that 
"watchers"  of  the  night  are  there,  and  thus,  like  the 
machinery  of  the  great  world,  move  on  the  wheels  of  this 
epitomized  one. 

Dull  and  heavy  glide  on  the  hours  of  night;  silence 
like  that  of  the  prairie  rests  for  a  while  on  and  around 
the  city,  save  the  howl  of  some  watchful  dog  and  the 
far-off  sound  of  a  tinkling  bell.  A  city  at  night,  wrapped 
in  the  curtains  darkness  throws  around  it,  is  like  a  vast 
sepulchre,  and  visited  alike  with  ghosts  from  the  spirit- 
world.  Presently  the  dark  panorama  begins  to  move: 
there  is  an  uprising  of  a  long  stream  of  light  in  the 


240  THE  PHILADELPHIA  POST-OFFICE. 

eastern  sky ;  a  vast  and  mysterious  movement,  as  im- 
pulsive and  as  sudden  as  that  of  light,  agitates  the  city ; 
sounds  quick  and  incessant  come  upon  the  ear, — rattling  of 
wheels,  ringing  of  bells:  the  world  and  its  inhabitants 
are  awake.  The  night  dream  is  over ;  reality  assumes  its 
power  once  again.  Moving  on,  men,  women,  and  children 
take  their  respective  ways  to  business  or  pleasure,  for  this 
world  is  made  up  of  both.  There  you  see  the  mechanic, 
there  the  merchant  looking  for  the  "early  worm,"  there 
the  newsboy  hurrying  to  his  morning  traffic  in  literature, 
himself  its  evil  genius,  there  the  housebreaker  moving 
quietly  away  from  the  scene  of  his  villany,  and  there  the 
man  of  pleasure  staggering  to  his  wretched  home.  There  is 
one  point  at  which,  however,  many  assemble :  there,  clus- 
tered around  a  marbled  veneered  building, — for  it  is  not 
all  marble, — you  can  read  in  the  looks  of  the  crowd  the 
world's  history,  and  alike  the  name  of  the  building :  it  is 
the  PHILADELPHIA  POST-OFFICE.  The  sun  that  awoke 
millions  from  their  sleep  now  shines  down  and  sheds  its 
light  around  this  "mimic  world:"  it  awakes;  its  night 
slumber  is  over;  the.  hour  has  arrived — action,  action. 
The  doors  open — the  crowd  rush  in.  Ah !  what  is  life  ? — 
one  scene  of  struggle  and  strife,  and  for  what?  That's  the 
question. 

"Quid  sit  futurum  eras  fuge  quasrere" 

is  not  a  bad  idea  of  the  poet  Horace:  its  literal  meaning 
is,  "Avoid  all  inquiry  with  respect  to  what  may  happen 
to-morrow."  We  should  not  look  so  anxiously  into  the 
future  as  to  preclude  all  present  enjoyment. 

Action,  action  is  the  motto  of  our  land.  This  the  effect 
of  a  cause, — that  cause  the  Revolution.  It  changed  alike 
men  and  the  opinion  of  nations  upon  the  subject  of  sove- 
reignty. Mental,  physical,  political,  speculative,  and  finan- 
cial revolutions  are  all  the  results  of  one  great  cause, — & 


THE  PHILADELPHIA  POST-OFFICE.  241 

cause  bearing  date  1776.  Here  we  are;  here  in  the  post- 
office,  one  of  the  branches  of  the  General  Government. 
This  is  the  little  world  of  letters,  this  the  index  to  the 
inner  history  of  man.  It  is  a  book  of  thoughts. 

THE  DEPOSIT- WINDOWS. — These  are  surrounded  by  a 
motley  crew;  letters  are  dropped  in  hastily,  some  care- 
fully by  those  who  write  in  doubt  and  seem  to  hesitate 
the  sending  until  the  last  moment.  Why?  Ah!  reader, 
there  is  a  mystery  in  all  things :  here  mystery  becomes 
secrecy.  There  you  see  an  old  lady  carefully  depositing  a 
letter :  she  glances  down  the  opening,  takes  one  last  look, 
and,  sighing,  silently  moves  away.  What  are  the  con- 
tents of  that  letter  ?  It  is  her  secret. 

Pass  on  to  the  newspaper — not  window ;  for  newspapers 
are  a  wholesale  article:  singly  they  are  mere  letters;  in 
bulk  they  are  legion.  You  must  go  to  a  door,  and  there 
you  will  see  bags  piled  Olympus  high :  these  are  opened 
and  distributed  into  their  respective  pouches  to  go  to  all 
parts  of  the  habitable  world ;  for  newspapers  now  are,  like 
letters,  "the  world's  correspondents."  The  inside  of  the 
office  is  now  wide  awake,  the  world  outside  is  in  arms 
and  "eager  for  the  fray."  Millions  of  letters  go  and 
come,  millions  of  hearts  are  made  glad  by  a  mere  stroke 
of  the  pen,  which  passes  lightning-like  through  this  postal 
medium,  millions  of  hearts  are  alike  made  sad,  and 
mourn  and  sob  over  the  one  line  that  brings  news  of 
sickness  and  of  death. 

The  post-office  in  many  points  of  view  presents  the 
appearance  of  a  besieged  fort.  The  chief  clerk  is  at  his 
post:  he  stands  on  a  platform  somewhat  elevated  above 
the  line  of  the  main  floor ;  his  eye  glances  along  the  line 
of  clerks,  some  of  whom  are  at  the  (port-holes)  delivery- 
windows,  awaiting  the  outward  attack.  The  assault  com- 
mences, the  windows  are  assailed.  Loud  voices  are  heard, 
one  above  the  rest  shouts  2400 :  this  is  answered  by  an 

21 


242  THE  PHILADELPHIA  POST-OFFICE. 

immediate  discharge  from  within,  which  silences  battery 
2400.  These  attacks  continue  along  the  "  box  line77  until 
the  demand  for  surrender  on  the  one  side  is  answered  by 
a  furious  discharge  of  epistolary  ammunition  on  the  other. 
Both  parties  retire  satisfied  with  the  result.  The  victory, 
however,  is  always  on  the  side  of  the  post-office :  the  effect 
of  the  fire  from  their  port-holes  is  felt  when  all  within  its 
lines  are  quiet.  The  wheels  of  the  department  uninjured 
move  on.  Let  us  take  a  glance  through  yonder  opening. 
We  are  on  the  outside,  looking  into  the  interior  of  this 
postal  fortress.  Hundreds  of  active  business-men  are 
moving  about  in  their  shirt-sleeves,  looking  fierce  and 
desperate :  they  are  engaged  in  a  great  struggle, — a  struggle 
with  time.  Some  are  dragging  along  the  vast  extent  of 
flooring  large  leather  pouches,  others  huge  canvas  bags : 
it  seems,  as  you  gaze,  that  they  are  the  bodies  of  the  dead 
and  wounded,  the  result  of  the  recent  attack.  Not  so; 
they  are  mail-bags.  See  how  furiously  one  is  thrown 
down :  it  is  seized  upon  as  if  a  victim  to  be  sacrificed. 
"Brass  lock,"  yells  one.  "Iron,"  screams  another.  Brass 
or  iron,  they  are  quickly  unlocked,  and  in  an  instant  their 
contents  are  scattered  like  chaff,  and  away  they  go  to  the 
four  quarters  of  the  globe  as  fast  as  busy  hands,  wind, 
tide,  and  steam  can  take  them. 

No  fort — not  even  Sumter,  Darling,  or  the  defences  of 
"Vicksburg — ever  presented  a  more  busy  scene  of  life  and 
death  than  does  the  post-office  on  the  opening  of  mail- 
bags:  it  may  indeed  be  compared  to  "life  and  death;" 
for,  as  we  have  said,  it  is  a  "struggle  with  time.77 

And  yet  what  to  an  outsider  might  seem  all  chaos, 
system  has  reduced  to  perfect  order;  and  if  the  same 
observer  will  look  once  more  into  the  office  after  these 
sudden  attacks  on  mail-pouches  and  bags,  he  will  see  the 
parties  sitting  quietly  down,  seemingly  well  contented  with 


THE  PHILADELPHIA  POST-OFFICE.  243 

the  result  of  the  strife  between  time,  matter,  and  motion, — 
the  conquerors  they. 

Mr.  William  Lewars,  author  of  "  Her  Majesty's  Mails/7 
thus  describes  the  scenes  which  daily  occur  from  5.45  to 
6  o'clock  in  the  London  post-office : — 

"It  is  then  that  an  impetuous  crowd  enters  the  hall, 
and  letters  and  newspapers  begin  to  fall  in  quite  a  literary 
hail-storm.  The  newspaper-window,  ever  yawning  for 
more,  is  presently  surrounded  and  besieged  by  an  array 
of  boys  of  all  ages  and  costumes,  together  with  children 
of  a  larger  growth,  who  are  all  alike  pushing,  heaving, 
and  surging  in  one  great  mass.  The  window  with  tre- 
mendous gape  is  assaulted  with  showers  of  papers  which 
fly  thicker  and  faster  than  the  driven  snow.  Now  it  is 
that  small  boys  of  eleven  and  twelve  years  of  age,  panting, 
Sinbad-like,  under  the  weight  of  huge  bundles  of  news- 
papers, manage  somehow  to  dart  about  and  make  rapid 
sorties  into  other  ranks  of  boys,  utterly  disregarding  the 
cries  of  the  official  policemen,  who  vainly  endeavor  to 
reduce  the  tumult  into  something  like  post-office  order. 
If  the  lads  cannot  quietly  and  easily  disembogue,  they 
will  whiz  their  missiles  of  intelligence  over  other  people's 
heads,  now  and  then  sweeping  off  hats  and  caps  with  the 
force  of  shot.  The  gathering  every  moment  increases  in 
number  and  intensifies  in  purpose;  arms,  legs,  sacks, 
baskets,  heads,  bundles,  and  woollen  comforters — for  who 
ever  saw  a  veritable  newspaper-boy  without  that  append- 
age?— seems  to  be  getting  into  a  state  of  confusion  and 
disagreeable  communism,  and  'yet  the  cry  is  still  they 
come.'  Heaps  of  papers  of  widely-opposed  political  views 
are  thrown  in  together ;  no  longer  placed  carefully  in  the 
openings,  they  are  now  sent  in  in  sackfuls  and  basketfuls, 
while  over  the  heads  of  the  surging  crowd  come  flying 
back  the  empty  sacks  thrown  out  of  the  office  by  the 
porters  inside.  Semi-official  legends,  with  a  very  strong 


244  THE  PHILADELPHIA  POST-OFFICE. 

smack  of  probability  about  them,  tell  of  sundry  boys  being 
thrown  in,  seized,  emptied,  and  thrown  out  again  void. 
As  six  o'clock  approaches  still  nearer  and  nearer,  the 
turmoil  increases  more  perceptibly,  for  the  intelligent 
British  public  is  fully  alive  to  the  awful  truth  that  the 
post-office  officials  never  allow  a  minute  of  grace,  and  that 
"  Newspaper  Fair"  must  be  over  when  the  last  stroke  of 
six  is  heard.  One,  in  rush  files  of  laggard  boys  who  have 
purposely  loitered  in  the  hope  of  a  little  pleasurable  ex- 
citement; two,  and  grown  men  hurry  in  with  their  last 
sacks ;  three,  the  struggle  resembles  nothing  so  much  as  a 
pantomimic  melee ;  four,  a  Babel  of  tongues  vociferating 
desperately ;  five,  final  and  furious  showers  of  papers,  sacks, 
and  bags ;  and  six,  when  all  the  windows  fall  like  so  many 
swords  of  Damocles,  and  the  slits  close  with  such  a  sudden 
and  simultaneous  snap,  that  we  naturally  suppose  it  to  be 
a  part  of  the  post-office  operations  that  attempts  should 
be  made  to  guillotine  a  score  of  hands ;  and  then  all  is 
over  so  far  as  the  outsiders  are  concerned. 

"  Among  the  letter-boxes,  scenes  somewhat  similar  have 
been  enacted.  Letters  of  every  shape  and  color,  and  of 
all  weights,  have  unceasingly  poured  in ;  tidings  of  life 
and  death,  hope  and  despair,  success  and  failure,  triumph 
and  defeat,  joy  and  sorrow ;  letters  from  friends  and  notes 
from  lawyers,  appeals  from  children  and  stern  advice  from 
parents,  offers  from  anxious-hearted  young  gentlemen  and 
c  first  yeses'  or  refusals  from  young  maidens,  letters  con- 
taining that  snug  appointment  so  long  promised  you,  and 
'  little  bills'  with  requests  for  immediate  payments,  '  to- 
gether with  six-and-eightpence ;'  cream-colored  missives 
telling  of  happy  consummations,  and  black-edged  enve- 
lopes telling  of  death  and  the  grave ;  sober-looking  advice 
notes,  doubtless  telling  when  'our  Mr.  Puffwell'  would  do 
himself  the  honor  of  calling  upon  you,  and  elegant-look- 
ing billets,  in  which  business  is  never  mentioned,  all  jostled 


THE  PHILADELPHIA  POST-OFFICE.  245 

each  other  for  a  short  time ;  but  the  stream  of  gladness  and 
of  woe  was  stopped,  at  least  for  one  night,  when  the  last 
stroke  of  six  was  heard.  The  post-office,  like  a  huge  mon- 
ster,— to  which  one  writer  has  likened  it, — has  swallowed 
an  enormous  meal,  and,  gorged  to  the  full,  it  must  now 
commence  the  process  of  digestion.  While  laggard  boys, 
to  whom  cartoons  by  one  i  William  Hogarth'  should  be 
shown,  are  muttering,  'Too  late/  and  retiring  discomfited, 
we,  having  obtained  the  requisite  'open  sesame/  will 
make  our  way  to  the  interior  of  the  building.  Threading 
our  course  through  several  passages,  we  soon  find  our- 
selves among  enormous  apartments  well  lit  up,  where 
hundreds  of  human  beings  are  moving  about,  lifting, 
shuffling,  stamping,  and  sorting  huge  piles  of  letters,  and 
still  more  enormous  piles  of  newspapers,  in  what  seems 
at  first  sight  hopeless  confusion,  but  in  what  is  really  the 
most  admirable  order.  In  the  newspaper-room,  men 
have  been  engaged  not  only  in  emptying  the  sacks  flung 
in  by  strong-armed  men  and  weak -legged  boys,  but  also 
in  raking  up  the  single  papers  into  large  baskets  and 
conveying  them  up  and  down  'hoists'  into  various  divi- 
sions of  the  building.  Some  estimate  of  the  value  of 
these  mechanical  appliances,  moved,  of  course,  by  steam- 
power,  may  be  formed  from  the  fact  that  hundreds  of 
tons  of  paper  pass  up  and  down  these  lifts  every  week. 
As  many  of  the  newspapers  escape  from  their  covers  in 
the  excitement  of  posting,  each  night  two  or  three  officers 
are  busily  engaged  during  the  whole  time  of  despatch  in 
endeavoring  to  restore  wrappers  to  newspapers  found 
without  any  address.  Great  as  is  the  'care  exercised 
in  this  respect,  it  will  occasionally  happen  that  wrong 
newspapers  will  find  their  way  into  loose  wrappers  not 
belonging  to  them ;  and,  under  the  circumstances,  it  would 
be  by  no  means  a  matter  of  wonder  if — as  has  been  more 
than  once  pointed  out — Mr.  Bright  should,  instead  of  his 

21* 


246  THE  PHILADELPHIA  POST-OFFICE. 

'Morning  Star/  receive  a  copy  of  the  ' Saturday  Re- 
view/ or  an  evangelical  curate  the  '  Guardian7  or  ( Punch/ 
in  place  of  his  'Record'  paper. 

"  In  the  letter-room  the  officers  are  no  less  busily  en- 
gaged :  a  number  of  them  are  constantly  at  work,  during 
the  hours  of  the  despatch,  in  the  operation  of  placing 
each  letter  with  the  address  and  postage-label  uppermost, 
so  as  to  facilitate  the  process  of  stamping.  In  the  general 
post-office  the  stamping  is  partly  effected  by  machinery 
and  partly  by  hand,  and  consists  simply  in  imprinting 
upon  each  letter  the  date,  hour,  and  place  of  posting, 
while  at  the  same  time  the  queen's  head  with  which  the 
letter  is  ornamented  and  franked  gets  disfigured.  It  will 
easily  be  imagined  that  a  letter  containing  a  box  of  pills 
stands  a  very  good  chance  of  being  damaged  under  this 
manipulation,  as  a  good  stamper  will  strike  about  fifty 
letters  in  a  minute.  Unpaid  letters  are  kept  apart,  as 
they  require  stamping  in  a  different-colored  ink  and  with 
the  double  postage.  Such  letters  create  much  extra  labor, 
and  are  a  source  of  incessant  trouble  to  the  department, 
inasmuch  as  from  the  time  of  their  posting  in  London  to 
their  delivery  at  the  Land's  End  or  John  O'Groat's,  every 
officer  through  whose  hands  they  may  pass  has  to  keep 
a  cash  account  of  them.  The  double  postage  on  such 
letters  is  more  than  earned  by  the  post-office.  All  unfast- 
ened and  torn  letters,  too,  are  picked  out  and  conveyed  to 
another  portion  of  the  large  room ;  and  it  requires  the  un- 
remitting attention  of  several  busy  individuals  to  finish  the 
work  left  undone  by  the  British  public.  It  is  scarcely  credi- 
ble that  above  two  hundred  and  fifty  letters  are  daily  posted 
open,  and  bearing  not  the  slightest  mark  of  ever  having  been 
fastened  in  any  way ;  but  such'  is  the  fact.  A  fruitful 
source  of  extra  work  to  this  branch  of  the  office  arises 
through  the  posting  of  flimsy  boxes  containing  feathers, 
slippers,  and  other  recherche  articles  of  female  dress,  pill- 


THE  PHILADELPHIA  POST-OFFICE.  247 

boxes  containing  jewelry,  and  even  bottles.  The  latter, 
however,  are  detained,  glass  articles  and  sharp  instruments 
of  any  sort,  whenever  detected,  being  returned  to  the 
senders.  These  frail  things,  thrown  in  and  buried  under 
the  heaps  of  correspondence,  get  crushed  and  broken :  yet 
all  are  made  up  again  carefully  and  resealed. 

"When  the  letters  have  been  stamped,  and  those  in- 
sufficiently paid  picked  out,  they  are  carried  away  to 
undergo  the  process  of  sorting.  In  this  operation  they 
are  very  rapidly  divided  into  'roads/  representing  a  line 
of  large  towns :  thus,  letters  for  Derby,  Loughborough, 
Nottingham,  Lincoln,  etc.,  might  be  placed  in  companion- 
ship with  one  division  or  'road/  and  Bilston,  Wednes- 
bury,  Walsall,  West  Bromwich,  etc.,  in  another." 

As  we  have  stated,  the  immense  amount  of  business 
transacted  in  the  post-offices  of  large  cities  is  not  unfre- 
quently  lost  sight  of, — business  transactions  of  a  nature 
that  few  understand  or  comprehend,  and  which  exercise 
an  influence  on  men  and  nations  equally  as  powerful  as 
that  of  the  press. 

Few  persons  are  acquainted  with  the  inner  arrange- 
ments of  a  post-office.  Let  any  one  glance  into  it  as  he 
passes,  and  he  will  be  struck  with  the  vast  pile  of  mail- 
matter  constantly  arriving  •  and  departing,  as  well  as  the 
number  of  hands  engaged  in  their  arranging  and  dis- 
tributing. Forty  mails  arrive  and  depart  in:  the  twenty- 
four  hours, — making  over  three  hundred  pouches,  besides 
canvas  bags  containing  newspapers,  &c. :  these  are  esti- 
mated more  by  bulk  than  numbers. 

Mind,  intellect,  strength,  quickness  of  action  and  of 
thought,  are  all  required  here,  and  found.  Without  this, 
confusion  worse  confounded  would  ensue,  and  the  pulsa- 
tion of  this  little  world  would  cease  to  throb. 

A  post-office  is  a  little  world :  it  is  peopled  with  the 
thoughts  of  men  that  go  and  come,  pass  and  repass,  move 


248  THE  PHILADELPHIA  POST-OFFICE. 

on  afar  and  away  over  land  and  water  to  other  cities,  and 
return  again, — some  oppressed,  some  elated:  "so  runs 
the  world  away !" 

What  is  the  romance  of  a  post-office  but  its  reality  ? 
It  is  a  history  of  letters.  Peep  into  their  contents,  and  you 
read  a  volume  far  surpassing  the  wildest  flights  of  the 
imagination.  And  yet  they  are  as  a  sealed  book  to  all 
except  those  to  whom  they  are  directed.  Yet  you  can 
read  it  in  the  action  of  the  recipients,  trace  its  effects,  the 
moral  is  there. 

Glance  at  the  ladies7  window :  see  that  tall  female,  upon 
whose  face  you  can  trace  the  dark  lines  of  sorrow.  Day 
after  day  has  she  called,  asking  in  a  trembling  voice  for  a 
letter.  She  had  told  the  clerk  a  sad  story  of  an  absent  son, — 
told  it  for  the. purpose  of  explaining  the  cause  of  her  fre- 
quent visits.  Did  she  but  know  that  beneath  a  blasted 
tree,  scathed  by  the  lightning  flash  of  a  thousand  rebel  mus- 
kets, he  lies  buried, — deep,  deep  down  in  the  cold  ground, 
with  hundreds  of  others,  both  friends  and  foes,  who  fell  there 
in  bloody  strife.  But  when  the  startling  news  did  come, 
her  tall  form  was  seen  no  more  at  that  window.  She  was 
alone  in  the  world !  Watch  that  window :  it  is  an  index 
to  a  volume  of  life.  Not  alone  the  broken-hearted  and 
the  sorrowing,  not  alone  the  forsaken  wife  and  the  expect- 
ant maiden,  not  alone  the  anxious  mother,  but  the  gay, 
the  frivolous,  the  abandoned,  all  flock  here ;  for  all  are 
mixed  up  in  the  great  struggle  of  life. 

Pass  on  to  the  box-window.  There  you  read  the  history 
of  men  in  trade  and  commerce.  There  you  have  a  com- 
pendium of  that  wonderful  thing  known  as  and  called 
'Change.  There  you  will  observe  the  various  and  pecu- 
liar characteristics  of  men  as  they  eagerly  clutch  their 
letters  and  rush  away.  Watch  their  actions,  and  you  will 
find  that  a  line  or  two  in  a  letter  convulses  the  market, 
and  for  a  while  there  is  a  commotion  on  'Change.  Watch 


THE  PHILADELPHIA  POST-OFFICE.  249 

the  politician :  by  his  looks  you  can  read  the  secret  of  his 
heart.  If  you  follow  his  footsteps  and  read  the  name  of 
the  publication-office  into  which  he  plunges,  the  chief 
editorial  next  day  tells  its  contents.  Perhaps  it  will  read, 
"  Reliable  Intelligence  from  Richmond.  The  Rebel  Army 
well  supplied  with  Ammunition.  Probable  Recognition 
by  England,  &c."  Or,  perhaps,  if  the  publication-office 
should  be  on  Fourth  or  Third  Street,  it  may  read,  "Glo- 
rious News  from  Grant's  Army,  &c." 

There  is  another  portion  of  a  post-office  which  adds 
another  page  to  its  romantic  history ;  and  that  is  the  "  Car- 
riers' Department."  Many  a  sad  tale  has  the  carrier  to 
tell, — many  a  strange  incident  connected  with  his  "con- 
stant round."  A  glance  into  this  room  shows  you  a 
number  of  men  busily  engaged  in  assorting  or  "  blocking" 
the  letters  on  their  route.  These  they  receive  in  bulk 
from  the  distributor,  which  are  passed  to  them  from 
a  smaller  room  through  a  series  of  pigeon-holes.  And 
here  we  have  a  most  remarkable  illustration  of  what  the 
human  mind  is  capable  of  accomplishing.  Let  us  explain. 
In  1854  the  corporate  limits  of  the  city  of  Philadelphia 
were  made  coextensive  with  those  of  the  county,  covering 
an  area  of  one  hundred  and  twenty  square  miles,  and 
placing  twenty-one  towns  and  villages  under  the  guard- 
ianship of  one  Mayor  and  City  Councils.  In  nearly  all 
of  these  there  were  separate  post-offices.  The  bringing  of 
all  these  rural  districts  under  one  general  postal  head  was 
one  of  the  first  suggestions  that  Mr.  C.  A.  Walborn  made 
to  the  department  shortly  after  he  became  postmaster  of 
this  city.  Postmaster-General  Blair  entered  fully  into 
his  views  upon  this  subject,  and  thus  the  whole  rural 
district  embracing  the  area  named  above  is  under  one 
general  postal  head.  Mr.  Walborn  established  station- 
offices,  engaged  carriers ;  and  letters  are  distributed  within 
an  area  of  over  one  hundred  miles,  .with  as  much  ease 


250  THE  PHILADELPHIA  POST-OFFICE. 

and  facility  as  they  were  in  the  limits  of  the  old  city 
proper. 

For  the  accommodation  of  persons  residing  at  points 
remote  from  the  general  post-office,  in  Chestnut  Street, 
stations  have  been  arranged  to  which  four  mails  are  sent 
daily.  In  the  extreme  rural  sections,  three  daily  deliveries 
are  considered  sufficient  by  the  residents,  but  four  collec- 
tions are  made  of  matter  for  delivery  or  mailing.  These 
stations  are  located  as  follows: — A,  41  South  Eighteenth 
Street;  B,  Market  Street,  west  of  Thirty-Seventh,  West 
Philadelphia;  C,  southeast  corner  of  Broad  and  Coates 
Streets;  D,  1206  North  Third  Street;  E,  corner  Richmond 
and  William  Streets,  Port  Eichmond;  F,  90  Main  Street, 
Frankford;  G,  Main  Street,  below  Railroad  Depot,  Ger- 
mantown;  H,  Main  Street,  below  Church  Lane,  Chestnut 
Hill;  I,  Main  Street,  below  Grape,  Manayunk;  K,  Wash- 
ington Street,  near  Fifth. 

The  carriers  deliver  letters  and  papers  within  the  fol- 
lowing bounds: — Delaware  River  on  the  east;  Mont- 
gomery county  line  on  the  west;  upper  end  of  Frankford, 
Chestnut  Hill,  and  Andora  on  the  north ;  Delaware  county 
line  on  the  south,  including  the  old  districts  of  Kensing- 
ton, Port  Richmond,  Bridesburg,  Frankford,  Rising  Sun, 
Nicetown,  Germantown,  Mount  Airy,  Chestnut  Hill,  Falls 
of  Schuylkill,  Manayunk,  Leverington,  Andora,  Blockley, 
Haddington,  Hestonville,  Belmont,  and  Kingsessing.  If 
thrown  into  a  square,  this  would  form  a  territory  of  about 
ten  by  fifteen  miles. 

Sixty-three  carriers  are  employed,  making  four  deliveries 
daily,  within  the  following  boundaries:  Delaware  River, 
Schuylkill  River,  Canal  Street,  and  York  Street.  There 
are  thirty-four  persons  also  employed  exclusively  in  col- 
lecting letters  from  places  of  deposit  within  the  same  dis- 
trict. They  make  five  collections  daily.  The  rural  dis- 
tricts, including  that  territory  which  is  contained  within 


'   .       THE  LETTER-CARRYING  SYSTEM.  251 

the  limits  of  Delaware  county  line  on  the  south,  Mont- 
gomery county  line  on  the  west,  Delaware  Kiver  on  the 
east,  and  on  the  north  the  northern  boundary  of  Chestnut 
Hill,  Germantown,  and  Frankford,  occupy  twenty-four 
persons,  making  at  least  three  trips  per  day  to  collect  and 
deliver  letters.  There  is,  therefore,  a  force  of  one  hundred 
and  twenty-one  carriers  and  collectors  employed. 

The  number  of  letters  received  by  mail  and  delivered 
by  carriers  amounted,  last  quarter,  to  1,134,111.  They 
collected  and  delivered,  in  the  same  period,  389,233  local 
or  drop  letters,  making  a  total  delivery  of  1,523,344.* 

The  number  of  papers  received  by  mail  and  delivered 
during  this  period  was  117,010;  the  number  of  local  or 
drop  papers  was  35,257,  giving  a  total  delivered,  -152,267. 
The  number  of  letters  returned  from  misdirection,  removal, 
refusal  to  pay  postage,  and  similar  reasons,  was  8742. 
The  number  of  letters  for  the  mail  collected  from  lamp- 
posts and  other  located  boxes  of  deposit  was  744,723; 
and  the  number  of  newspapers  similarly  obtained,  59,292, 
total  of  804,015. 


THE  LETTER-CARRYING  SYSTEM. 

But  few  persons  have  any  adequate  idea  of  the  vast 
number  of  letters  which  day  after  day  pass  through  the 
post-office  into  the  hands  of  the  carrier,  to  be  delivered 
at  their  final  destination.  The  following  list  gives  the 
number  of  letters  delivered  and  collected  in  the  four 
largest  cities  during  the  month  of  June,  1865: — 


New  York       

Mail  Letters 
Delivered. 

799,389 

Drop  Letters 
Delivered. 

253,434 

Letters 
Collected. 

785,990 

Philadelphia 

.     ..      492,004 

168,330 

361  068 

118,200 

9,200 

100  591 

Cincinnati       

84,370 

7,714 

47,201 

Total  

,  1,493,963 

438,678 

1,294,850 

*  February  1,  1864. 


252  THE  LETTER-CARRYING  SYSTEM. 

During  the  same  period  there  were  collected  from  pillar 
or  lamp-post  boxes  1,294,850  letters. 

The  annexed  statement  gives  the  number  of  letters 
delivered  in  three  principal  cities : — 

Boston 284,440 

Baltimore 152,230 

Chicago 130,819 

Total i 567,489 

Philadelphia 516,836 

So,  according  to  this,  the  amount  of  business  transacted 
through  the  Philadelphia  post-office  is  almost  equal  to  that 
of  Boston,  Baltimore,  and  Chicago  combined.  Statistics 
further  show  that  it  is  nearly  equal  to  the  combined  busi- 
ness of  Brooklyn,  St.  Louis,  Washington,  Cincinnati,  and 
Cleveland. 

From  the  little  room  which  we  have  termed  the  "dis- 
tribution-room," letters  are  sent  and  scattered  over  the  area 
named  above,  to  the  full  amount  of  18,000  daily,  not 
including  those  called  acity  drops."  The  distributor  is  to 
know,  or  is  supposed  to  know,  apart  from  consulting  the 
directory,  the  name  of  every  street,  lane,  and  alley,  as 
well  as  their  locality,  so  that  he  can  place  the  letters  so 
directed  into  their  separate  pigeon-holes,  both  for  the  city 
carriers  and  the  "  subs."  He  has  to  observe  the  limits  of 
certain  routes,  and  see  that  his  letters  do  not  go  astray, 
thus  causing  a  delay  in  the  delivery  of  at  least  twenty- 
four  hours.  Many  letters  are  received  without  direction, 
and  others,  again,  so  imperfectly  given  that  it  requires  the 
exercise  of  a  little  of  Job's  patience,  assisted  by  an  imper- 
fect directory,  to  find  out  where  they  actually  belong.  The 
carriers,  however,  to  whom  these  letters  are  submitted, 
being  familiar  with  the  names  of  persons  on  their  routes, 
select  from  this  debris  of  letters  those  that  they  think 
belong  to  the  parties  to  whom  they  are  so  carelessly 
directed.  A  good  carrier  never  brings  back  a  letter  to 


THE  PRESS.  253 

the  office  until  he  is  fully  satisfied  that  it  is  not  on  his 
route.  Philadelphia  can  boast  of  such. 

This  retentive  quality  is  also  powerfully  exercised  at 
the  box-windows.  There  are  2600  boxes,  which  we  may 
say  will  average  six  letters  each  daily,  thus  making  an 
aggregate  of  15,600.  These  letters  are  selected  from  the 
"pile"  by  clerks,  who  actually  know  not  only  the  names 
of  the  owners  of  the  boxes,  but  the  names  of  those  who 
are  entitled  to  their  use, — as,  for  instance,  the  clerks  and 
porters  of  the  parties  engaging  them.  This  is  what  we 
term  a  wonderful  exercise  of  memory  and  its  practical 
application.  Newspapers  are  distributed  on  the  same 
principle  as  are  the  letters. 

The  newspaper  •  department  of  a  post-office  is  one  that 
may  well  be  called  the  "reservoir"  of  the  press:  here 
flows  all  that  makes  up  that  vast  institution,  here  comes 
the  highest  standard  of  our  literature,  down  to  the  meanest 
sheet  venality  produces.  A  number  of  men  are  constantly 
employed  in  the  newspaper  room,  or,  as  we  term  it,  "the 
rotunda  of  literature."  This  is  emphatically  the  wholesale 
room;  for  they  deal  in  bulk.  Papers  coming  singly, 
directed  to  individuals,  pass  through  the  same  process  as 
do  the  letters.  The  packages  directed  to  neighboring  cities 
find  their  way  through  the  "rotunda"  in  canvas  bags  to 
their  respective  places  of  destination.  Let  us  here  say  one 
word  of 

THE  PRESS. 

It  has  identified  itself  with,  and  forms  one  of  the  main 
features  of,  our  great  republic.  Its  very  liberty  is  essential 
to  the  nature  of  a  free  state.  Its  complicity  and  power 
claim  for  it  a  consideration  which  no  other  department  of 
literature  and  science,  however  popular,  can  attain.  The 
press  of  our  country  is  now  the  medium,  if  not,  in  fact, 
the  very  source,  of  that  knowledge  of  which  as  a  nation 
we  are  so  justly  proud. 

22 


254  THE  PRESS. 

THE  WORK  OF  THE  POST-OFFICE  is  of  such  a  nature, 
changing  its  character  with  every  new  incumbent,  that  it 
is  utterly  impossible  to  reduce  it  to  a  system  of  permanent 
order  during  one  term  of  office.  Move,  however,  it  must, 
right  or  wrong:  hence  it  is  that  some  portion  of  its  ma- 
chinery may  get  out  of  order  and  thus  militate  against 
the  probability  of  reaching  perfection.  Perfection !  and 
who  seeks  perfection  in  any  of  the  institutions  esta- 
blished by  man?  Nature  alone  "is  perfect  indeed."  It 
was  so  from  the  beginning,  not  only  in  its  elements  and 
principles,  but  in  its  members  and  its  organs. 

"The  post-office,"  says  a  writer  in  "Fraser's  Magazine" 
for  September  2,  1862,  "no  longer  assumes  to  be  perfect, 
and  its  conductors  have  renounced  their  claims  to  infalli- 
bility. Suggested  improvements,  if  they  can  sustain  the 
indispensable  test  of  rigid  scrutiny,  are  welcomed,  and  not, 
as  of  old,  frowned  away.  The  department  acts  under  the 
conviction  that  to  thrive  it  must  discard  the  confidence 
heretofore  placed  in  legal  prohibitions,  and  seek  its  con- 
tinuance of  prosperity  only  by  deserving  it." 

The  English  post-office  has  far  better  opportunities  of 
rendering  its  system  more  perfect  than  it  is,  from  the  fact 
that  its  clerks  are  not  discharged  on  every  change  made  in 
the  heads  of  the  department  by  the  government.  They 
are  fixtures.  But  in  this  country  no  one  engaged  in  a 
public  office  under  one  administration  can  calculate  being 
continued  under  another. 

A  clerk  in  the  post-office,  being  appointed  for  an  espe- 
cial duty,  troubles  himself  very  little  about  that  of  any 
other.  He  takes  no  interest  in  the  general  business  or 
details  of  the  office,  from  the  fact  that  his  situation  is  not  a 
permanent  one:  hence  it  is  that  few  postmasters  are  enabled, 
within  four  years,  to  bring  the  office  out  of  the  chaos  into 
which  a  previous  administration  had  reduced  it,  so  as  to 
congratulate  himself  upon  making  one  step  towards  per- 


LETTER-  CA  RRIERS.  255 

fection.  He  has  to  study  the  political  elements  outside 
first,  and  by  the  time  these  are  reconciled,  nearly  one-third 
of  his  term  has  expired.  In  another  portion  of  this  work 
we  have  alluded  to  this  political  clog  placed  against  the 
wheels  of  the  postal  department,  and  retarding,  if  not  ma- 
terially impairing,  its  social,  moral,  and  financial  interests. 

LETTER-  CARRIERS. 

Letter-carriers  are  a  very  important  class  of  men, — im- 
portant, we  mean,  in  their  connection  with  the  postal 
department.  We  speak  of  them  here  because  their  duties 
are  not  generally  known  to  the  public,  nor  their  services 
properly  appreciated  or  rewarded  by  the  department. 
They  are  the  "  walking  posts,"  and  carry  with  them  daily 
thousands  of  dollars,  which  rarely  are  lost  on  their  way 
to  the  recipients.  The  instances  are  so  few  of  dishonest 
carriers  that  we  have  often  been  surprised  that  the  fact 
has  not  been  recorded  ere  this,  so  as  it  might  be  placed  in 
juxtaposition  with  those  elite  rogues  in  office  who  are  daily 
robbing  the  government  of  millions.  Is  it  because  they 
are  generally  faithful?  or  is  it  because  the  position  of  a 
letter-carrier  is  one  that  requires  no  consideration  from 
the  department  beyond  the  annual — rather  limited — sti- 
pend for  their  services?  The  letter-carriers  of  our  country 
represent  a  political  class:  they  come  forth  from  their 
respective  wards  under,  as  it  were,  leading  politicians. 
The  postmaster,  in  fact,  has  scarcely  a  voice  in  making 
these  appointments.  We  have  no  objection  to  this  system, 
as  it  is  one  peculiarly  allied  to  the  institutions  of  our 
country  and  mode  of  election;  but  we  do  object  to  good 
and  honest  men  being  discharged  simply  from  the  fact 
that  a  few  politicians  outside  of  an  office  want  to  get  their 
particular  friends  in.  This  can  scarcely  be  called  rotation 
in  office,  as  it  frequently  assumes  an  unjust,  if  not  an 
intolerant,  exercise  of  power. 


256  LETTER-CARRIERS. 

We  have  alluded  to  the  English  post-office  as  being 
perhaps  the  best-ordered  and  best-conducted  in  the  world, 
for  there  changes  are  not  made. 

In  England  carriers  are  classified.  The  lowest  class  are 
not  so  well  paid,  receiving  only  from  18  to  25  shillings 
per  week.  They  are  allowed  by  government,  however,  to 
receive  presents,  and  their  Christmas  boxes  and  New- Year 
gifts, — thus  realizing  a  nice  little  sum  of  money,  as  well  as 
many  useful  and  ornamental  articles.*  If  the  salary  of  a 
letter-carrier  in  England  is  not  high,  the  position  is  so 
identified  with  the  governmental  patronage  that  he  be- 
comes a  part  and  portion  of  the  great  institution  itself. 
If  he  is  taken  sick,  he  has  medical  attendance  and  medi- 
cine furnished  gratis.  When  unfitted  for  work,  he  may 
retire  upon  a  pension,  for  which  he  has  not  to  pay  a 
farthing ;  and  during  service,  if  he  insure  his  life  for  the 
benefit  of  his  family,  the  post-office  will  assist  him  to  pay 
the  premium :  this  is  done  by  allowing  him  twenty  per 
cent,  on  all  his  payments.  Every  year  the  letter-carriers 
are  allowed  a  fortnight  holiday  without  any  deduction 
from  their  pay.  Many  spare  hours  each  day  may  be 
devoted  to  other  pursuits;  for,  if  when  at  work  at  the 
office  his  hours  of  duty  exceed  eight  hours  daily,  he  is  at 
full  liberty  to  ask  for  investigation  and  redress.  See  p. 
205,  Kendall. 

The  higher  grade  of  carriers  are  distinguished  from  the 
lower  by  wearing  a  livery  of  the  department  and  at  its 
expense,  viz. : — a  scarlet  coat  with  a  blue  collar,  and  but- 
tons stamped  with  an  impression  of  the  royal  arms.  The 
carriers  of  the  twopenny  post  wear  the  common  citizens' 
dress. 


*  Other  classes  of  carriers  receive  higher  salaries  and  other  con- 
siderations from  the  government,  which  renders  the  office  one  of  con- 
siderable importance,  and  requiring  influence  to  obtain. 


LETTER-CARRIERS.  257 

We  have  alluded  to  the  general  character  of  the  letter- 
carriers  of  our  city,  and,  we  may  justly  and  proudly  say,  of 
our  country,  being  equal  in  point  of  moral  standard,  cor- 
rect deportment,  and  honesty  of  purpose,  to  any  other  (pub- 
lic) class  of  men  in  the  Union.  Of  this  fact  the  writer  has 
opportunities  of  knowing;  and  when  we  take  into  con- 
sideration the  extremely  low  salaries  they  receive, — 
scarcely  sufficient  to  support  them, — the  fact  impresses 
itself  upon  us,  as  it  should  on  the  government,  that  a 
"carrier's  fidelity,  diligence,  and  experience  should  be  pro- 
perly rewarded."  We  quote  here  nearly  every  postmaster- 
general's  language,  but  as  yet  the  words  only  stand  on  the 
record  ! 

During  the  writer's  connection  with  the  department, 
there  were  but  two  instances  of  carriers  being  detected 
in  opening  letters  and  appropriating  their  contents  to 
their  own  use.  One  of  these  men  died  suddenly  while 
under  heavy  bonds  for  his  appearance  at  court  to  answer 
for  his  crime;  the  other  is  now  expiating  his  crime  in 
the  Penitentiary. 

We  have  spoken  more  particularly  about  carriers  and 
their  general  good  character ;  but  our  remarks  will  apply 
to  those  who  occupy  positions  in  every  department,  from 
the  chief  clerks  down  to  the  wounded  soldier  who  sweeps 
out  the  office.*  It  certainly  must  be  a  source  of  satisfac- 
tion to  postmasters  generally,  that  peculation,  fraud,  and 
robbery  in  their  departments  are  of  very  rare  occurrence. 
Many  losses  have  been  charged  to  the  department,  but  in 
nine  cases  out  of  ten  they  have  been  traced  to  parties 
who  act  as  carriers  between  the  post-office  and  merchants' 
counting-houses.  These  are  boys  and  clerks  who  are 
authorized  by  merchants  to  take  letters  from  their  boxes, 


*  At  this  present  writing  a  soldier  who  lost  a  leg  at  the  battle  of 
Gettysburg  occupies  this  position. 

22* 


258  LETTER-CARRIERS. 

many  of  which,  as  we  can  prove,  never  reached  their 
employers,  but  were  opened  and  the  money  extracted. 
Under  the  old  State  laws  this  was  laid  down  as  simply 
a  breach  of  trust:  it  is  now  made  a  criminal  offence, 
and  subjects  the  guilty  party  to  imprisonment.  Since  the 
passage  of  this  law  there  have  been  but  few  such  breaches 
of  trust. 

In  another  portion  of  this  work  we  have  alluded  to 
the  decoy  system  as  being  uncalled  for  and  insulting  to 
the  employees.  It  does  seem  as  if  the  public  and  even 
postmasters  themselves  have  an  idea  that  dishonesty  is  a 
national  calamity,  and  that  it  becomes  a  duty  with  them 
to  suspect  alike  all  who  are  in  their  employ.  Suspicion, 
however,  is  no  proof;  and  we  are  inclined  to  think  that 
many  open  robberies  of  the  government  can  be  traced  to 
the  fact  that  high  positions  seem  to  sanction  the  deed. 
The  poor  wretch  who  steals  a  loaf  of  bread  to  keep  his 
family  from  starving  finds  no  mercy  at  the  hands  of  the 
law,  while  the  wholesale  robber,  the  thief  of  millions,  is 
simply  required  to  make  the  amount  stolen  good  !  Where 
one  public  official  robber  is  convicted  for  appropriating 
the  public  funds  to  his  own  use,  thousands  are  annually 
tried  and  punished  for  taking  a  penny  loaf!  It  is  no 
wonder,  therefore,  that  suspicion  should  haunt  the  guilty 
mind,  and  every  man  in  power  judge  of  others  by  the 
example  set  in  high  places. 

Some  years  ago,  long  before  the  postal  system  became 
the  mighty  engine  of  power  that  it  is  now,  a  Philadelphia 
postmaster,  since  gathered  to  his  fathers,  openly  stated 
that  no  man  should  intrust  a  clerk  in  the  post-office  (his 
own  office)  with  the  knowledge  that  a  letter  posted  con- 
tained money ! 

How  different  is  the  English  post-office  in  this  respect 
from  ours !  There  the  employees  are  considered  a  part 
and  portion  of  its  national  character,  identified  with  it 


IMPORTANT  POSTAL  TABLES.  259 

by  all  those  ties  which  protection  gives  and  justice  sanctions. 
The  government  not  only  studies  the  present  interest  of 
all  connected  with  the  postal  department,  but  amply  pro- 
vides for  that  of  the  future.  (See  p.  147.)  Their  con- 
fidence is  not  easily  shaken ;  but  like  Othello,  when  they 
doubt,  they  prove ;  and  on  the  proof  there  is  no  more  but 
this  : — Away  at  once ! 

IMPORTANT  POSTAL  TABLES. 

The  following  tables,  carefully  prepared,  fully  prove 
that  there  is  no  surer  test  of  the  advance  of  business  and 
commercial  enterprise  than  that  which  is  learned  from  the 
increase  of  postage.  A  glance  at  the  table  from  1790 
shows  a  wonderful  increase  in  the  short  space  of  eight  or 
ten  years,  entirely  unexampled  in  the  history  of  the  world ; 
and  taken  in  connection,  as  we  think  it  may  be,  with  a 
similar  increase  in  other  statistics,  it  sets  all  previous  ex- 
amples completely  aside.  The  fact  is,  the  country  is  igno- 
rant of  the  history  "of  our  postal  department,  a  knowledge 
of  which  would  tend  materially  to  strengthen  that  love  of 
country  which  a  state  of  ignorance  naturally  lessens.  The 
post-office  department  should  no  longer  be  as  a  sealed 
book  to  the  nation. 


260 


IMPORTANT  POSTAL  TABLES. 


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IMPORTANT  POSTAL  TABLES. 


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262 


IMPORTANT  POSTAL  TABLES. 


NUMBER  OF  POST-OFFICES,  EXTENT  OF  POST-ROUTES,  AND  REVENUE  AND  EXPENDITURES  OF 
THE  POST-OFFICE  DEPARTMENT  ;  WITH  THE  AMOUNT  PAID  TO  POSTMASTERS  AND  FOR  TRANS- 
PORTATION OF  THE  MAIL,  SINCE  1790. 


Year. 

No.  of 
Post- 
Offices. 

Extent  of 
Post-Routes 
in  Miles. 

Revenue 
of  the 
Department. 

Expenditures 
of  the 
Department. 

Amount  paid  for 

Compen.  of 
Postmasters. 

Trans  port'n 
of  the  Mail. 

1790 

75 

1,875 

$37,935 

$32,140 

$8,198 

$22,081 

1795 

453 

13,207 

160,620 

117,893 

30,272 

75,359 

1800 

903 

20,817 

280,804 

213,994 

69,243 

128,644 

1805 

1,558 

31,076 

421,373 

377,367 

111,552 

239,635 

1810 

2,300 

36,406 

551,684 

495,969 

149,438 

327,966 

1815 

3,000 

43,748 

1,043,065 

748,121 

241,901 

487,779 

1816 

3,260 

48,673 

961,782 

804,422 

265,944 

521,970 

1817 

3,459 

52,089 

1,002,973 

916,515 

303,916 

589,189 

1818 

3,618 

59,473 

1,130,235 

1,035,832 

346,429 

664,611 

1819 

4,000 

67,586 

1,204,737 

1,117,861 

375,828 

717,881 

1820 

4,500 

72,492 

1,111,927 

1,160,926 

352,295 

782,425 

1821 

4,650 

78,808 

1,059,087 

1,184,283 

337,599 

815,681 

1822 

4,709 

82,763 

1,117,490 

1,167,572 

355,299 

788,618 

1823 

5,043 

84,860 

1,130,115 

1,156,995 

360,462 

767,464 

1824 

5,182 

84,860 

1,197,758 

1,188,019 

383,804 

768,939 

1825 

5,677 

94,052 

1,306,525 

1,229,043 

411,183 

785,646 

1826 

6,150 

94,052 

1,447,703 

1,366,712 

447,727 

885,100 

1827 

7,003 

105,336 

1,524,633 

1,468,959 

486,411 

942,335 

1828 

7,530 

105,336 

1,659,915 

1,689,945 

548,049 

1,086,313 

1829 

8,004 

115,000 

1,707,418 

1,782,132 

559,237 

1,153,646 

1830 

8,450 

115,176 

1,850,583 

1,932,708 

595,234 

1,274,009 

1831 

8,686 

115,486 

1,997,811 

1,936,122 

635,028 

1,252,226 

1832 

9,205 

104,466 

2,258,570 

2,266,171 

715,481 

1,482,507 

1833 

10,127 

119,916 

2,617,011 

2,930,414 

826,283 

1,894,638 

1834 

10,693 

119,916 

2,823,749 

2,910,605 

897,317 

1,925,544 

1835 

10,770 

112,774 

2,993,356 

2,757,350 

945,418 

1,719,007 

1836 

11,091 

118,264 

3,408,323 

3,841,766 

812,804 

1,638,052 

1837 

11,767 

141,242 

4,236,779 

3,544,630 

891,353 

1,996,727 

1838 

12,519 

134,818 

4,238,733 

4,430,662 

933.948 

3,131,308 

1839 

12,780 

133,999 

4,484,657 

4,636,536 

980^00 

3,285,622 

1840 

13,468 

155,739 

4,543,522 

4,718,236 

1,028,925 

3,296,876 

1841 

13,778 

155,026 

4,407,726 

4,499,528 

1,018,645 

3,159,375 

1842 

13,733 

149,732 

4,546,849 

5,674,752 

1,147,256 

3,087,796 

1843 

13,814 

142,295 

4,296,225 

4,374,754 

1,426,394 

2,947,319 

1844 

14,103 

144,687 

4,237,288 

4,296,513 

1,358,316 

2,938,551 

1845 

14,183 

143,940 

4,289,841 

4,320,732 

1,409,875 

2,905,504 

*1846 

14,601 

152,865 

3,487,199 

4,084,297 

1,042,079 

2,716,673 

*1847 

15,146 

153,818 

3.955,893 

3,979,570 

1,060,228 

2,476,455 

*1848 

16,159 

163,208 

4,371,077 

4,346,850 

2,394,703 

*1849 

16,749 

163,703 

4,905,176 

4,479,049 

1,320,921 

2,577,407 

*1850 

18,417 

178,672 

5,552,971 

5,212,953 

1,549,376 

2,965,786 

*1851 

19,796 

196,290 

6,727,867 

6,278,402 

1,781,686 

3,538,064 

*1852 

20,901 

214,284 

6,925,971 

7,108,459 

1,296,765 

4,225,311 

*1853 

22,320 

217,743 

5,940,725 

7,982,957 

1,406,477 

4,906,308 

*1854 

23,548 

219,935 

6,955,586 

8,577,424 

1,707,708 

5,401,382 

*1855 

24,410 

227,908 

7,342,136 

9,968,342 

2,135,335 

6,076,335 

*1856 

25,565 

239,642 

7,620.822 

10,405,286 

2,102,891 

6,765,639 

*1857 

26,586 

242,601 

8,053,952 

11,508,058 

2,285,610 

7,239,333 

*1858 

27,977 

260,603 

8,186,793 

12,722,470 

2,355,016 

8,246,054 

*1859 

28,539 

260,052 

8,668,484 

15,754,093 

2,453,901 

7,157,629 

*1860 

28,498 

240,594 

8,518,067 

19,170,600 

2,552,868 

14,281,655 

*1861 

28,586 

140,399 

8,349,296 

13,606,759 

2,514,157 

9,173,274 

*1862 

28,875 

134,013 

8,299,820 

11,125,364 

2,340,767 

6,993.613 

*1863 

29,047 

139,598 

11,163,789 

11,314,206 

2,876,983 

6,54i;580 

*  The  returns  from  1846  to  1851  are  for  the  six  years  under  the  law 
of  March  3,  1845.  Those  from  1852  to  1863  are  under  the  reduced 
rates  established  by  the  acts  of  March  3,  1851,  and  March  3,  1855. 


IMPORTANT  POSTAL  TABLES. 


263 


COMPARATIVE  STATEMENT  OF  THE  VALUE  OF  STAMPS  AND  STAMPED  ENVELOPES  ISSUED 
DURING  THE  THREE  YEARS  1860-61-62. 


Years. 

Stamps. 

Envelopes. 

Total. 

I860                                            

$5920939  00 

$949,377  19 

$6,870,316  19 

1861 

5  908  522  60 

781711  13 

6,690233  73 

1862.  .             

7,078,188  00 

756,904  00 

7,835,092  00 

Increase  over  the  issue  of  1860 $964,775  81 

Increase  over  the  issue  of  1861 1,144,858  27 


STATEMENT  SHOWING  POSTAL  REVENUE  AND  EXPENDITURES  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES,  IN  TOTO 

AND  PER  CAPITA,  ACCORDING  TO  POPULATION,  AT  EIGHT  SUCCESSIVE  DECADES,  FROM  1790 
TO  1863,  INCLUSIVE. 


Years. 

Revenue. 

Expenditures. 

Population. 

Revenue  per 
capita. 

Expenditures 
per  capita. 

1790 

$37,935 

$32,140 

3,929,827 

$  of  a  cent. 

•fa  of  a  cent. 

1800 

280,804 

213,994 

5,305,925 

5A  cents. 

4     cents. 

1810 

551,684 

495,969 

7,239,814 

?1O        " 

«&      ' 

1820 

1,111,927 

1,160,926 

9,638,131 

lli        " 

12 

1830 

1,919,300 

1,959,109 

12,866,020 

14?0      "4 

15$)      ' 

1840 

4,543,522 

4,718,236 

17,069,453 

27}6o      ' 

1850 

5,499,985 

5,212,953 

23,191,876 

23$!      " 

22i         ** 

1851 

6,410,604 

6,278,402 

23,873,717 

26A      " 

26?0      " 

1852 

5,184,527 

7,108,459 

24,575,604 

2lX      | 

98  »         " 
^010 

1853 

5,240,725 

7,982,756 

25,298,126 

20  ]\) 

31&      ' 

1854 

6,255,586 

8,577,424 

26,041,890 

24         " 

32?0      ' 

1855 

6,642,136 

9,968,342 

26,807,521 

24j80     " 

37fl)      ' 

1856 

6,920,822 

10,405,286 

27,595,662 

25         " 

37j7o      ' 

1857 

7,353,952 

11,508,058 

28,406,974 

25i9o     " 

40J 

1858 

7,486,793 

12,722,470 

29,242,139 

434 

1859 

7,968,484 

15,754,093 

30,101,857 

r   " 

52?0      " 

1860 

8,518,067 

14,874,601 

31,445,089 

27  A      " 

47  $      " 

1861 

8,349,296 

13,606,759 

32,577,112 

25$)      ' 

«}£      " 

1862 

8,299,821 

11,125,364 

33,749,888 

24A      ' 

as       " 

1863 

11,163,790 

11,314,207 

34,762,384 

32ib      ' 

S2&      ' 

NOTE.— The  population  from  1851  to  1863,  excepting  the  year  1860,  is  estimated  by  the 
standard  ratio  of  increase. 


CHANGES  AND  REDUCTIONS  IN  THE  RATES  OF  DO- 
MESTIC POSTAGE  IN  FORMER  YEARS. 

The  following  will  exhibit  the  principal  changes  and 
reductions  in  the  rates  of  postage  on  domestic  letters  at 
various  dates  from  1792  to  1863.  The  single  rate  for 
land  transit  is  referred  to  in  every  case. 

Act  of  February  20,  1792.  Rates  for  a  single-sheet  letter, — 30  miles 
or  under,  6  cents ;  30  to  60  miles,  8  cents ;  60  to  100  miles,  10  cents ; 
100  to  150  miles,  12  cents ;  150  to  200  miles,  15  cents  ;  200  to  250  miles, 


264  DOMESTIC  POSTAGE. 

17  cents;  250  to  350  miles,  20  cents;  350  to  450  miles,  22  cents;  over 
450  miles,  25  cents. 

Act  of  2d  March,  1799.  Rates  for  a  single-sheet  letter,— 40  miles  or 
under,  8  cents ;  40  to  90  miles,  10  cents ;  90  to  150  miles,  12£  cents ; 
150  to  300  miles,  17  cents;  300  to  500  miles,  20  cents;  over  500  miles, 
25  cents. 

The  revenue  act  of  23d  December,  1814,  added  50  per  cent,  to  the 
rates  last  above ;  but  the  addition  was  repealed  February  1,  1816,  which 
restored  the  rates  of  1799. 

Act  of  April  9,  1816.  Rates  for  a  single-sheet  letter,— 30  miles  or 
under,  6  cents ;  30  to  80  miles,  10  cents ;  80  to  150  miles,  12  J  cents ; 
150  to  400  miles,  18J  cents ;  over  400  miles,  25  cents. 

Act  of  3d  March,  1845.  Rates  for  a  single-sheet  letter,— 300  miles 
or  under,  5  cents ;  over  300  miles,  10  cents. 

Act  of  3d  March,  1851.  Rates  for  a  half-ounce  letter,— 3000  miles 
or  under,  if  prepaid,  3  cents,  if  unpaid,  5  cents ;  over  3000  miles, 
double. 

Act  of  3d  March,  1855.  Rates  for  a  half-ounce  letter, — 3000  miles 
or  under,  3  cents  ;  over  3000  miles,  10  cents. 

Under  this  act  prepayment  was  not  compulsory,  and  after  January, 
1856,  prepayment  by  stamps  was  required. 

[The  issue  of  postage-stamps  was  first  authorized  by  an  act  of  3d 
March,  1847,  and  subsequently  by  the  act  of  3d  March,  1851.] 

Act  of  3d  March,  1863.  Rate  for  half-ounce  letter,  3  cents  every- 
where throughout  the  United  States. 

DOMESTIC  POSTAGE. 

The  law  requires  postage  on  all  letters  (including  those 
to  foreign  countries  when  prepaid),  excepting  those  written 
by  officers  of  the  government,  addressed  to  the  depart- 
ment with  which  they  are  connected,  and  on  official  busi- 
ness, to  be  prepaid  by  stamps  or  stamped  envelopes,  pre- 
payment in  money  being  prohibited. 

All  drop-letters  must  be  prepaid,  at  the  rate  of  two 
cents  per  half-ounce  or  fraction  of  a  half-ounce,  by  post- 
age stamps.  If  not  prepaid,  the  double  rate  to  be  charged. 

The  single  rate  of  postage  on  all  domestic  mail-letters 
throughout  the  United  States  is  three  cents  per  half-ounce, 
with  an  additional  rate  of  three  cents  for  each  additional 


NEWSPAPER  POSTAGE.  265 

half-ounce  or  fraction  of  a  half-ounce.     The  former  ten- 
cent  (Pacific)  rate  is  abolished. 

NEWSPAPER  POSTAGE. 

Postage  on  Daily  Papers  to  subscribers  when  prepaid 
quarterly  or  yearly  in  advance,  either  at  the  mailing-office 
or  office  of  delivery,  per  quarter  (three  months)  .  .  35  cts. 
Six  times  per  week,  "  "  30  " 

For  Tri- Weekly,  «  "  15  " 

For  Semi-Weekly,  "  "  10  " 

For  Weekly,  "  "  5  " 

WEEKLY  NEWSPAPEKS  (one  copy  only)  sent  by  the 
publisher  to  actual  subscribers  within  the  county  where 
printed  and  published,  free. 

POSTAGE  PER  QUARTER  (to  be  paid  quarterly  or  yearly 
in  advance)  on  NEWSPAPERS  and  PERIODICALS  issued  less 
frequently  than  once  a  week,  sent  to  actual  subscribers  in 
any  part  of  the  United  States : 

Semi-monthly,  not  over  4  oz , 6  cts. 

"  over  4  oz.  and  not  over  8  oz 12   " 

"  over  8  oz.  and  not  over  12  oz 18   " 

Monthly,  not  over  4  oz 3   " 

"         over  4  oz.  and  not  over  8  oz 6   " 

"         over  8  oz.  and  not  over  12  oz 9   " 

Quarterly,  not  over  4  oz 1    " 

"         over  4  oz.  and  not  over  8  oz 2   " 

"         over  8  oz.  and  not  over  12  oz 3   " 

PUBLISHERS  OF  NEWSPAPERS  AND  PERIODICALS  may 
send  to  each  other  from  their  respective  offices  of  publica- 
tion, free  of  postage,  one  copy  of  each  publication,  and 
may  also  send  to  each  actual  subscriber,  enclosed  in  their 
publications,  bills  and  receipts  for  the  same,  free  of  post- 
age. They  may  also  state  on  their  respective  publications 
the  date  when  the  subscription  expires,  to  be  written  or 
printed. 

23 


266  NEWSPAPER  POSTAGE. 

Religious,  educational,  and  agricultural  newspapers 
of  small  size,  issued  less  frequently  than  once  a  week, 
may  be  sent  in  packages  to  one  address  at  the  rate  of  one 
cent  for  each  package  not  exceeding  four  ounces  in  weight, 
and  an  additional  charge  of  one  cent  is  made  for  each 
additional  four  ounces  or  fraction  thereof,  the  postage  to 
be  paid  quarterly  or  yearly  in  advance. 

NEWSDEALERS  may  send  newspapers  and  periodicals  to 
regular  subscribers  at  the  quarterly  rates,  in  the  same 
manner  as  publishers,  and  may  also  receive  them  from 
publishers  at  subscribers'  rates.  In  both  cases  the  postage 

-L  Jr  o 

to  be  prepaid,  either  at  the  mailing-  or  delivery -office. 

Publications  issued  without  disclosing  the  office  of  pub- 
lication, or  containing  a  fictitious  statement  thereof,  must 
not  be  forwarded  by  postmasters  unless  prepaid  at  the 
mailing-office  at  the  rates  of  transient  printed  matter. 

A  letter  over  500  miles  cost  thirty-seven  and  one-half 
cents  in  1815;  now  it  is  carried  to  the  extreme  portion  of 
our  country,  traversing  mountains,  passing  deep  ravines 
and  rivers,  for  the  small  sum  of  three  cents ! 

Harpers7  Magazine,  had  it  been  in  existence  in  1815, 
would  have  cost  for  each  one  twenty-seven  cents,  whereas 
now  they  only  cost  three  cents  to  all  parts  of  the  country. 
What  an  age  for  literature  !  what  an  era  in  learning ! 

In  1779,  in  consequence  of  the  increased  nature  of  the 
postal  business  and  the  necessity  for  a  more  extended 
ramification  of  the  system,  the  postmaster-general  was  to 
receive  $5000  per  annum,  and  the  comptroller  $4000, 
— meaning,  of  course,  Continental  money.  Besides  these 
two  offices  in  the  postal  department,  there  was  a  secretary 
who  acted  as  clerk  to  the  postmaster-general.  The  comp- 
troller settled  the  accounts,  and  was  the  book-keeper. 
There  were  three  surveyors,  who  were  to  travel  and  inspect 
the  conduct  of  the  riders,  agents,  &c.  There  was  also  an 
inspector  of  dead  letters,  at  a  salary  of  $100  a  year. 


THE  POSTAL  DEPARTMENT.  267 

What  is  now  called  the  post-office  department  was 
established  in  1789  as  the  "post-office,"  and  subsequently 
as  the  "general  post-office,"  under  the  power  given  to 
Congress  by  the  Constitution  "to  establish  post-offices 
and  post-roads,"  and  the  exclusive  privilege  and  control 
of  all  postal  affairs,  &c. 

ORGANIZATION  OF  THE  POSTAL  DEPARTMENT. 

Congress  shall  have  power  "  to  establish  post-offices  and 
post-roads."  This  short,  concise,  yet  embracing  sentence 
sums  up  the  constitutional  basis  of  this  department.  It 
is  comprehensive  enough  to  all  who  fully  understand  the 
economical  and  practical  workings  of  our  government. 
Its  conciseness  is  its  very  history ;  and  that  history  becomes 
a  mighty  tome  in  the  library  of  nations. 

The  direction  and  management  of  the  post-office  depart- 
ment are  assigned  by  the  Constitution  to  the  postmaster- 
general.  That  its  business  may  be  the  more  conveniently 
arranged  and  prepared  for  its  final  action,  it  is  distributed 
among  several  bureaus,  as  follows : — the  Appointment- 
Office,  in  charge  of  the  First  Assistant  Postmaster-Gene- 
ral ;  the  Contract-Office,  in  charge  of  the  Second  Assistant 
Postmaster-General ;  the  Finance-Office,  in  charge  of  the 
Third  Assistant  Postmaster-General ;  and  the  Inspection- 
Office,  in  charge  of  the  Chief  Clerk. 

The  duties  of  the  several  departments  named  above 
are  thus  defined : — 

The  postmaster-general  "is  further  directed  to  superin- 
tend the  business  of  the  department  in  all  the  duties  that 
are  or  may  be  assigned  to  it,  and  he  is  required  once  in 
three  months  to  render  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  an 
account  of  all  the  receipts  and  expenditures  in  the  depart- 
ment, to  be  adjusted  and  settled  as  other  accounts."  The 
postmaster-general  may  establish  post-offices  and  appoint 
postmasters  on  the  post-roads  which  are  or  may  be  author- 


268  THE  POSTAL  DEPARTMENT. 

ized  by  law,  at  all  such  places  as  to  him  may  appear  expe- 
dient. He  regulates  the  number  of  times  the  mail  shall 
go  from  place  to  place,  and  he  is  authorized  to  contract 
for  carrying  the  mail,  and  to  establish  post-roads. 

APPOINTMENT-OFFICE. 

The  Appointment-Office  not  only  has  supervision  of  the 
appointment  and  regulation  of  all  postmasters,  and  the 
establishment  and  discontinuance  of  post-offices,  but  also 
the  distribution  of  blanks,  wrapping-paper,  and  twine  to 
all  post-offices ;  the  supervision  of  pay  of  clerks  in  post- 
offices  ;  of  allowance  for  furniture  of  post-offices ;  of  extra 
allowances  to  postmasters  under  the  acts  of  Congress ;  of 
the  appointment  and  pay  of  special  agents,  route-agents, 
local  agents,  and  blank-agents,  and  of  baggage-masters 
in  charge  of  mails;  of  the  foreign  mail  transportation 
and  foreign  correspondence ;  together  with  some  other  mis- 
cellaneous duties. 

CONTRA  CT-  OFFICE. 

The  Contract-Office  is  charged  with  the  conduct  of  mail- 
lettings,  and  all  contracts  and  allowances  for  inland  mail 
transportation,  with  the  mail  messenger  service ;  the  su- 
pervision and  regulation  of  mail-contractors,  and  the 
routes  of  mail-transit,  including  distributing-offices;  and 
with  the  increase  and  diminution  of  service  on  mail- 
routes. 

FINANCE-OFFICE. 

To  this  office  are  assigned  the  issuing  of  postage-stamps 
and  stamped  envelopes  for  the  prepayment  of  postage  and 
the  accounts  thereof;  the  preparation  of  warrants  and 
drafts  in  payment  of  balances  reported  by  the  Auditor  to 
be  due  to  mail-contractors  and  other  persons;  and  the 
superintendence  of  the  rendition  by  postmasters  of  their 


THE  POSTAL  DEPARTMENT.  269 

quarterly  returns  of  postages.  It  embraces,  also,  all  the 
operations  of  the  dead-letter  office,  and  the  accounts  con- 
nected therewith. 

INSPECTION-  OFFICE. 

The  Inspection -Office  is  charged  with  the  observation  of 
failures  and  delinquencies  in  the  service  of  contractors 
and  route-agents ;  with  fines  and  remissions  thereof;  with 
the  subject  of  mail-depredations,  and  prosecution  of  vio- 
lators of  postal  laws ;  with  the  duty  of  procuring  and  dis- 
tributing mail-bags,  locks  and  keys,  and  some  other  duties 
of  detail. 

Perhaps  no  institution  in  this  or  any  other  country  re- 
quires more  enterprise,  general  knowledge  of  business, 
and  geography,  than  does  that  of  the  post-office.  We 
have  already  alluded  to  the  fact  of  its  being  considered 
by  many  as  a  "mere  workshop"  of  the  general  depart- 
ment, and  whose  operations  are  simply  mechanical ;  but 
our  readers  ere  this  have  been  undeceived  as  regards  such 
a  construction,  and  it  must  loom  up  before  them  a  promi- 
nent intellectual  branch  of  our  government. 

That  England  has  a  high  estimate  of  her  post-office 
department  is  evident  from  the  encouragement  given  to 
every  one  connected  with  it,  and  sustaining  alike  its  lite- 
rary character  in  historic  publications.  We  make  the 
following  extract  from  a  recent  work  entitled  "Her  Ma- 
jesty's Mails'7 : — 

"  There  is  no  postal  service  in  the  world  so  well  managed 
as  that  of  Great  Britain.  It  is  now  not  merely  a  self- 
supporting  but  a  productive  institution;  whereas  there 
was  a  deficiency  of  half  a  million  in  the  post-office  of 
America  before  the  rupture  between  North  and  South. 
Though  America  for  ninety  years  has  been,  next  to  Eng- 
land, the  most  commercial  country  in  the  world,  yet, 
compared  with  the  population,  five  times  as  many  letters 

23* 


270  THE  POSTAL  DEPARTMENT. 

pass  through  the  English  post  as  through  the  American. 
London  and  its  suburbs  alone,  with  its  less  than  three 
millions  of  inhabitants,  sends  forth  a  greater  number  of 
letters  than  the  whole  of  America. 

"  The  next  best-managed  post-office  to  our  own  is  that  of 
France;  but  in  France,  by  the  law  of  1856,  there  are 
five  different  tariffs  of  postages.  Judged  by  the  revenue 
produced,  the  English  post-office,  notwithstanding  its  low 
rate  of  charges,  stands  first. 

"  The  Austrian  post-office  produces  a  revenue  of  3,7 14,200 
florins,  or  .£378,000 ;  the  Belgian,  2,960,000  francs ;  the 
French,  66,452,000  francs ;  and  the  English,  £3,800,000 ; 
being  more  than  a  quarter  of  a  million  beyond  the  pro- 
ceeds of  1862. 

"  A  comparison  of  the  year  1839 — the  year  immediately 
preceding  the  penny  postage — with  the  year  1861  gives 
these  results :  An  increase  nearly  eightfold  in  the  charge- 
able letters ;  a  threefold  increase  in  the  receptacles  for 
letters ;  a  fortyfold  increase  in  the  number  of  money- 
orders  ;  a  fifty  fold  increase  in  the  amount  of  money-orders ; 
and  an  increase  of  the  gross  revenue  in  round  numbers 
from  £2,390,000  to  £3,402,000.  The  amount  of  the 
correspondence  of  a  country  will  measure,  with  some 
approach  towards  accuracy,  as  Mr.  Matthew  Hill  says, 
the  height  which  a  people  has  reached  in  true  civilization. 
The  town  of  Manchester  equals  in  its  number  of  letters 
the  Empire  of  all  the  Russias  both  in  Europe  and  Asia ; 
and  this  fact  we  owe,  as  many  of  the  marvels  we  have 
stated,  to  Sir  Rowland  Hill.  The  poor  and  the  lowly, 
the  domestic  servant  and  the  humble  artisan,  can  now 
correspond  with  each  other  from  one  end  of  the  kingdom 
to  the  other  at  the  trifling  expense  of  Id. ;  and  for  this 
civilizing,  Christianizing,  and  eminently  social  good  we 
are  indebted  to  a  late  post-office  secretary,  whose  merits 
have  been  recognized,  but  who  cannot  be  overpaid  in 


POST-COACHES  AND  RAILROADS.  271 

money  or  money's  worth.  As  Lord  Palmerston  said  on 
the  10th  of  June,  Sir  R.  Hill  showed,  in  relation  to  the 
post-office,  great  genius,  sagacity,  perseverance,  and  in- 
dustry, and  he  was  the  first  to  prove  that  the  department 
was  a  public  institution  for  the  performance  of  services, 
rather  than  for  the  collection*  of  revenue.  If,  as  the  first 
minister  of  the  crown  stated,  and  as  we  believe,  the  culti- 
vation of  the  aifections  raises  men  in  their  own  estimation, 
improves  their  morals,  and  develops  their  social  qualities, 
Sir  R.  Hill  has  been  amongst  the  greatest  benefactors  of 
the  human  race,  and  he  well  deserves  the  vote  that  was 
agreed  to  on  the  10th  of  June  without  a  dissentient 


POST-COACHES,  POST-HORSES,  AND  RAILROADS. 

Postmaster-generals  up  to  the  period  when  railroads 
superseded  that  of  post-coaches  and  post-horses  had  a 
much  harder  time  in  their  "vocation"  than  have  their 
successors  since.  The  difficulties  then  were  to  overcome 
the  opposition  of  parties  interested  in  contracts.  Coaches 
and  post-horses,  routes  and  agents,  became  important 
items  in  such  contracts ;  and  the  least  favoritism  on  the 
part  of  the  postmaster-general  called  forth  not  only  cen- 
sure from  those  immediately  interested,  but  not  unfre- 
quently  from  those  high  in  authority.  During  the  postal 
administration  of  W.  T.  Barry,  Esq.,  considerable  politi- 
cal feeling  was  mixed  up  with  these  complaints.  Mails  at 
that  period  (1835)  were  carried  on  horseback  from  central 
points,  and  by  four-horse  post-coaches  from  city  to  city. 
Lines  of  stages  were  established  in  several  sections  of  our 
country.  The  number  of  post-offices  was  10,693.  The 
line  of  stages  extended  to  the  western  boundary  of  Mis- 
souri ;  to  St.  Augustine,  in  Florida ;  through  Indiana,  by 
the  seat  of  government  in  that  State ;  through  the  whole 
Territory  of  Michigan  and  State  of  Illinois ;  from  Detroit 


272  SOMETHING  ABOUT  RAILR OADS. 

to  Chicago ;  and  from  Chicago  to  St.  Louis,  in  Missouri ; 
thence  to  New  Orleans,  in  half  the  time  which  it  formerly 
occupied.  This  facility,  however,  was  afforded  by  con- 
necting the  coaches  with  steamboats  in  the  mail-transport- 
ation. Lines  of  post-coaches  were  also  established  in  this 
year  from  Nashville  to  Memphis,  on  the  Mississippi  River, 
in  Tennessee;  from  Tuscumbia  in  Alabama  to  Natchez 
in  Mississippi ;  and  to  Tuscaloosa,  the  seat  of  government 
in  Alabama ;  and  from  Tuscaloosa  to  Montgomery ;  com- 
pleting a  direct  line  from  Nashville  in  Tennessee,  and  all 
the  other  Western  States,  to  the  city  of  New  Orleans. 

A  semi-weekly  line  of  two-horse  stages  was  added  to 
a  tri-weekly  line  of  four-horse-  post-coaches  from  Wash- 
ington City,  through  Lynchburg  in  Virginia,  Salisbury, 
N.C.,  Yorkville,  S.C.,  and  Augusta,  to  Savannah  in 
Georgia;  from  thence  to  the  northern  part  of  Georgia, 
through  that  State  to  Tallahassee,  and  to  Pensacola  in 
Florida. 

We  have  given  this  statement  for  the  purpose  of  show- 
ing the  amount  of  labor  essential  to  the  transportation  of 
the  mails  at  that  period,  compared  to  what  it  is  now.  It 
is,  however,  somewhat  strange  that  railroads  were  not  esta- 
blished in  many  places,  which  would  have  obviated  the 
necessity  of  coaches. 

SOMETHING  ABOUT  RAILROADS. 

Railroads,  although  evidently  of  ancient  origin,  were 
first  used  near  Newcastle-upon-Tyne,  in  1650.  Wooden 
rails  four  to  eight  inches  square,  resting  upon  transverse 
sleepers  two  feet  apart,  were  in  use  for  many  years,  when 
railroads  of  the  same  description  covered  with  thin  plates 
of  iron  were  substituted. 

In  another  part  of  this  work  we  speak  of  the  lost  arts. 
Proofs  of  their  existence  are  found  in  the  excavated  cities, 
and  even  in  those  vestiges  which  establish  the  belief  of 


SOMETHING  ABOUT  RAILROADS.  273 

an  antediluvian  state  of  society  equal  to  any  that  has 
existed  since.  Egypt  abounds  with  antiquities.  Where 
are  the  ramparts  of  Nineveh,  the  walls  of  Babylon,  the 
palaces  of  Persepolis,  the  temples  of  Baalbec  and  Jeru- 
salem ?  Where  are  the  fleets  of  Tyre,  the  docks  of  Arad, 
the  looms  of  Sidon,  and  the  multitude  of  sailors,  pilots, 
merchants,  and  soldiers  ?  Where  are  those  laborers,  those 
harvests,  those  flocks,  and  that  crowd  of  living  beings 
which  then  covered  the  face  of  the  earth  ?* 

The  temples  are  crumbled  down,  the  palaces  are  over- 
thrown, the  ports  are  filled  up,  the  cities  are  destroyed, — 
all, — all.  Earth  itself  is  only  a  desolate  place  of  tombs. 
Yet  specimens  of  high  art  remain,  and  also  indications  of 
a  classic  taste  far  superior  to  that  which  boasts  of  refine- 
ment since.  We  have  every  reason  to  believe  that  railroads 
were  known  to  the  Asiatics  long,  long  before  these  cities 
fell  in  their  ruins,  carrying  along  with  them  the  charts  by 
which  we  could  have  traced  their  cause  of  greatness.  The 
cities  of  the  desert — that  of  Palmyra,  for  instance — could 
never  have  been  built  so  far  away  from  "  marble-quarries" 
if  railroad  facilities  had  not  been  known  and  afforded  the 
means  of  conveying  those  vast  blocks  of  marble  which 
formed  its  pillars. 

The  cities  of  Palmyra  and  the  spot  which  marks  the 
site  of  Tadmor  present  an  imposing  spectacle  in  rising 
from  the  sands  of  the  desert.  It  looks  like  a  forest  of 
columns.  The  great  avenue  of  pillars  leading  to  the 
Temple  of  the  Sun,  and  terminated  by  a  grand  arch,  is 
1200  feet  in  length.  The  temple  itself  is  a  magnificent 
object.  The  city  is  a  vast  collection  of  ruins,  all  of  white 
marble.  How  were  these  huge  columns  of  marble  con- 
veyed to  this  city  of  the  desert? 

The  sculptures  of  the  Memphite  Necropolis  say  that 

*  Volney. 


274  SOMETHING  ABOUT  RAILROADS. 

Memphis  once  held  a  palace  called  the  "Abode  of 
Shoopho."  Shoopho  was  the  owner  of  vast  copper-mines: 
he  was  termed  "  pure  king  and  sacred  priest."  Historians 
doubted  the  power  he  exercised  over  Egypt,  and  also  the 
amount  of  labor  performed  in  erecting  pyramids  and 
monuments, — as,  for  instance,  it  is  maintained  that  he 
employed  100,000  men  for  twenty  years  in  erecting  a 
monument  for  which  ten  preceding  years  were  requisite 
in  preparing  the  materials  and  the  causeway  whereon  the 
stone  was  to  be  carried.  The  monument,  as  described 
by  historians,  was  of  immense  proportions,  the  base  of 
which  was  764  feet  each  face,  the  original  height  480  feet, 
containing  89,028,000  cubic  feet  of  solid  masonry  and 
6,848,000  tons  of  stone.  The  distance  these  materials 
were  carried  was  twenty  miles  from  the  quarries  on  the 
eastern  side  of  the  Nile.  What  sort  of  a  causeway  was 
that  which  could  transport  these  huge  masses  of  stone  a 
distance  of  twenty  miles?  Again,  this  great  pyramid  is 
lined  with  the  most  beautiful  and  massive  blocks  of 
sienite,  of  red  granite,  not  one  particle  of  which  exists 
twenty-five  miles  below  the  first  cataract  of  the  Nile,  at 
Aswan,  distant  six  hundred  and  forty  miles  up  the  river 
from  the  pyramid?  Blocks  of  this  sienite  are  found  in 
this  pyramid's  chambers  and  passages  of  such  dimensions, 
and  built  in  such  portions  of  the  masonry  that  they  must 
evidently  have  been  placed  there  before  the  upper  limestone 
masonry  was  laid  above  the  granite.  There  not  being  in  its 
native  state  a  speck  of  granite  within  six  hundred  and  forty 
miles  from  the  pyramid,  is  a  proof  that  Shoopho  did  rule 
from  Memphis  to  Aswan,  and  from  Migdol  to  the  tower 
of  Syene.  How  he  conveyed  the  material  that  distance 
involves  the  question  of  the  origin  of  railroads. 

Let  us  pass  on  to  Alexandria.  Pompey's  Pillar  stands 
upon  a  pedestal  twelve  feet  high.  The  shaft  is  round,  and, 
with  the  Corinthian  capital,  one  hundred  feet  in  height; 


HOW  THE  PYRAMIDS  WERE  BUILT.  275 

the  diameter  is  nine  feet.  Cleopatra's  Needle  is  of  one 
shaft  of  granite,  covered  with  hieroglyphics:  it  is  sixty- 
four  feet  high,  and  eight  feet  square  at  the  base.  There 
are  a  great  number  of  pyramids  scattered  over  Egypt,  but 
the  most  remarkable  are  those  of  Djizeh,  Sakhara,  and 
Dashour.  When  seven  leagues  distant  from  the  spectator 
they  seem  near  at  hand,  and  it  is  not  till  after  having 
travelled  several  miles  that  he  is  fully  sensible  of  the  size. 
The  largest  is  ascribed  to  Cheops.  They  are  on  a  plat- 
form of  rock  situated  one  hundred  and  fifty  feet  above 
the  level  of  the  desert.  Ten  years  were  consumed  in  pre- 
paring a  road  whereon  to  draw  the  immense  blocks  of 
stone,  and  the  labors  of  100,000  men  were  employed,  who 
were  relieved  once  in  three  months. — Herodotus. 

What  sort  of  a  road  and  the  manner  these  blocks  were 
carried  are  matters  of  conjecture.  We  incline  to  the  opinion 
of  railroads. 

HOW  THE  PYRAMIDS  WERE  BUILT. 

The  stones  used  in  building  the  pyramids  of  Egypt,  it 
is  supposed,  were  raised  to  their  places  by  piling  up  im- 
mense inclined  planes  of  sand,  up  which  the  blocks  were 
pushed  with  rollers.  If  inclined  planes  were  used  to  raise 
large  blocks  to  a  great  height,  is  it  to  be  supposed  that  a 
similar  mode,  or  railroads,  were  not  used  to  convey  them 
on  a  level  plane? 

The  statement,  often  repeated  on  high  authority,  that 
the  pyramids  were  built  before  the  Egyptians  acquired  the 
art  of  writing  hieroglyphics,  however,  which  they  do  con- 
tain, do  not  convey  that  full  knowledge  of  the  state  of  the 
arts  among  them,  at  the  time  the  pyramids  were  constructed, 
which  is  to  be  learned  from  the  writings  and  pictures  in 
their  tombs  and  temples,  in  regard  to  the  state  of  their  arts 
at  a  subsequent  period.  But  we  have  the  less  valuable 
authority  of  Herodotus  that  the  blocks  of  stones  were 


276  RAILROADS  IN  ENGLAND. 

lifted  from  one  course  to  the  other  up  the  steps  of  the 
pyramid.  Remains  of  Cheops'  grand  causeway,  for  trans- 
porting the  blocks  quarried  from  the  rocks  on  the  east 
bank,  are  still  seen  leading  up  the  great  pyramid  from  the 
plain,  a  shapeless  ridge  of  ruinous  masonry  and  sand. 
According  to  Herodotus,  it  was  one  thousand  yards  long, 
sixty  feet  wide,  and  forty-eight  feet  high,  was  adorned 
with  figures  of  animals,  and  was  a  work  of  ten  years. 
Some  of  the  stone  used  for  the  coping  over  the  passages 
are  seven  feet  thick  and  more  than  seventeen  feet  long. 
Lifting  these  stones  up  the  side  of  a  pyramid  four  hundred 
and  fifty  feet  high  was  certainly  a  work  of  great  labor; 
but  as  a  feat  of  engineering  it  was  mere  child's  play  com- 
pared with  some  of  the  triumphs  of  modern  science  and 
skill, — for  instance,  lifting  the  Menai  bridge  on  to  its 
piers,  or  raising  on  end  and  placing  on  its  pedestal  the 
monstrous  monolith  which  adorns  the  city  of  St.  Peters- 
burg. 

RAILROADS  FROM  1760— ENGLAND. 

In  1760,  wooden  railroads  were  in  pretty  general  use  to 
facilitate  mining  operations.  Tram-roads,  with  rails  of 
cast  iron,  first  introduced  at  the  Colebrookdale  Works,  at 
the  instance  of  Mr.  Reynolds  in  1767;  at  the  Sheffield 
colliery  in  1776.  Stone  props  for  the  support  of  the  rails 
substituted  for  timber  in  1797,  at  Newcastle-upon-Tyne. 
Edge  rails  were  brought  into  use  by  Mr.  Jessop  in  1789, 
at  Loughborough.  Malleable  iron  edge  rails  adopted  at 
Newcastle  in  1805,  and  at  Tinsdale  Fell  in  1808.  The 
improved  malleable  edge  rail  now  in  use  was  invented  by 
Mr.  Birkinsaw  in  1820.  A  locomotive  engine  propelled 
by  steam  was  employed  for  the  first  time  on  the  Merthyr- 
Tydvil  Railroad  in  Wales  in  1804.  Blenkinsop's  loco- 
motive engine,  which  operated  by  means  of  cog-wheels 
and  rack  rails,  was  invented  and  applied  on  the  Leeds 
Railroad  in  1811.  But  the  locomotive  engine  that  has 


RAILROADS  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES.  277 

obtained  the  greatest  reputation  and  been  most  generally 
adopted  was  that  invented  by  Mr.  George  Stevenson  in 
1814.  This  engine  has  undergone  a  variety  of  improve- 
ments up  to  1829,  and  was  deemed  at  that  period  more 
efficient  than  any  of  its  predecessors. 

RAILROADS  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

(Abstract  of  the  Seventh  Census.) 

In  no  other  particular  can  the  prosperity  of  a  country 
be  more  strikingly  manifested  than  by  the  perfection  of  its 
roads  and  other  means  of  internal  communication.  The 
system  of  railroads,  canals,  turnpikes,  post-routes,  river 
navigation,  and  telegraphs  possessed  by  the  United  States 
presents  an  indication  of  its  advancement  in  power  and 
civilization  more  wonderful  than  any  other  feature  of  its 
progress.  In  truth,  our  country  in  this  respect  occupies 
the  first  place  among  the  nations  of  the  world. 

From  returns  received  at  this  office  in  reply  to  special 
circulars,  and  other  sources  of  information,  it  is  ascertained 
that  there  were,  at  the  commencement  of  the  year  1852, 
10,814  miles  of  railroads  completed  and  in  use,  and  that 
10,898  miles  were  then  in  course  of  construction,  with  a 
prospect  of  being  speedily  brought  into  use.  While  the 
whole  of  these  10,898  miles  will,  beyond  reasonable  doubt, 
have  been  finished  within  five  years,  such  is  the  activity 
with  which  projects  for  works  of  this  character  are  brought 
forward  and  carried  into  effect,  that  it  is  not  extravagant 
to  assume  that  there  will  be  completed  within  the  limits 
of  the  United  States  before  the  year  1860  at  least  35,000 
miles  of  railroads. 

The  Quincy  Railroad,  for  the  transportation  of  granite 
from  the  quarries  at  Quincy  to  Neponset  River,  and  the 
Mauch  Chunk  Railroad,  from  the  coal-mines  to  the  Lehigh 
River,  in  Pennsylvania,  were  the  first  attempts  to  intro- 
duce that  mode  of  transportation  in  this  country;  and 


278  RAILROADS  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

their  construction  and  opening,  in  the  years  1826  and  1827, 
are  properly  considered  the  commencement  of  the  Ame- 
rican railroad  system.  From  this  period  until  about  the 
year  1848,  the  progress  of  the  improvements  thus  begun 
was  interrupted  only  by  the  financial  revulsion  which  fol- 
lowed the  events  of  1836  and  1837.  Up  to  1848,  it  is 
stated  that  about  6000  miles  had  been  finished.  Since  that 
date  an  addition  of  5000  miles  has  been  made  to  the  com- 
pleted roads,  and,  including  the  present  year,  new  lines, 
comprising  about  14,000  miles,  have  been  undertaken, 
surveyed,  and  mostly  placed  under  contract. 

The  usefulness  and  comparative  economy  of  railroads  as 
channels  of  commerce  and  travel  have  become  so  evident 
that  they  have  in  some  measure  superseded  canals,  and  are 
likely  to  detract  seriously  from  the  importance  of  navigable 
rivers  for  like  purposes.  In  a  new  country  like  ours  many 
items  of  expense  which  go  to  swell  the  cost  of  railroads 
in  England  and  on  the  continent  are  avoided.  Material  is 
cheap,  the  right  of  way  usually  freely  granted,  and  heavy 
land  damages  seldom  interpose  to  retard  the  progress  of 
an  important  work.  It  is  difficult  to  arrive  at  a  clear 
approximation  to  the  average  cost  of  railroad  construction 
in  the  United  States.  Probably  the  first  important  work 
of  this  class  undertaken  and  carried  through  in  the  Union 
was  the  cheapest,  as  it  has  proved  one  of  the  most  profit- 
able, ever  built.  This  was  the  road  from  Charleston,  in 
South  Carolina,  to  Augusta,  on  the  Savannah  River.  It 
was  finished  and  opened  for  traffic  in  1833.  The  entire 
expense  of  building  the  road  and  equipping  it  with  engines 
and  cars  for  passengers  and  freight  was,  at  the  date  of  its 
completion,  only  $6700  per  mile;  and  all  expenditures  for 
repairs  and  improvements,  during  the  eighteen  years  that 
the  road  has  been  in  operation,  have  raised  the  aggregate 
cost  of  the  whole  work  to  only  $1,336,615,  or  less  than 
$10,000  per  mile. 


RAILROADS  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES.  279 

It  is  estimated  that  the  2870  miles  of  railroads  finished 
in  New  England  have  cost  $132,000,000, — which  gives  an 
average  of  nearly  $46,000  per  mile.  In  the  Middle  States, 
where  the  natural  obstacles  are  somewhat  less,  the  average 
expense  per  mile  of  the  railroads  already  built  is  not  far 
from  $40,000.  Those  now  in  course  of  completion — as 
the  Baltimore  &  Ohio  Railroad,  Pennsylvania  Central, 
and  other  lines,  the  routes  of  which  cross  the  Alleghany 
range  of  mountains — will  probably  require  a  larger  pro- 
portionate outlay,  owing  to  the  heavy  expense  of  grading, 
bridging,  and  tunnelling.  In  those  States  where  land  has 
become  exceedingly  valuable,  the  cost  of  extinguishing 
private  titles  to  the  real  estate  requires,  and  the  damages 
to  property  along  the  routes  form,  a  heavy  item  in  the 
account  of  general  expenses  of  building  railroads.  In  the 
South  and  West  the  case  is  reversed :  there  the  proprietors 
along  the  proposed  line  of  a  road  are  often  willing  and 
anxious  to  give  as  much  land  as  may  be  needed  for  its 
purposes,  and  accord  many  other  advantages  in  order  to 
secure  its  location  through  or  in  the  vicinity  of  their  pos- 
sessions. In  the  States  lying  in  the  valleys  of  the  Ohio 
and  Mississippi  the  cost  of  grading,  also,  is  much  less  than 
at  the  eastward.  Where  the  country  is  wooded,  the  timber 
can  be  obtained  at  the  mere  cost  of  removing  it  from  the 
track ;  and  through  prairie  districts  Nature  seems  to  have 
prepared  the  way  for  these  structures  by  removing  every 
obstacle  from  the  surface;  while  fine  quarries  of  stone  are 
to  be  found  in  almost  every  region.  These  favorable  cir- 
cumstances render  the  estimate  of  $20,000  per  mile  in  all 
the  new  States  safe  and  reliable. 

The  primary  design  of  nearly  all  the  great  lines  of  rail- 
way in  the  United  States  has  been  to  connect  the  sea-coast 
with  the  distant  interior,  to  effect  which  object  it  was 
necessary  to  cross  the  Alleghanies,  which  intersect  every 


280  RAILROADS  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

line  of  travel  diverging  to  the  West  from  the  great  com- 
mercial cities  of  the  seaboard. 

The  Eighth  Census  (1860),  continuing  the  line,  makes 
this  addition  to  that  of  the  Seventh: — 

Previous  to  the  commencement  of  the  last  decade,  only 
one  line  of  railroad  has  been  completed  between  tide- 
water and  the  great  interior  basins  of  the  country,  the 
products  of  which  now  perform  so  important  a  part  in  our 
internal  and  foreign  commerce.  Even  this  line,  formed 
by  the  several  links  that  now  compose  the  New  York 
Central  Road,  was  restricted  in  the  carriage  of  freight 
except  on  the  payment  of  canal  tolls  in  addition  to  other 
charges  for  transportation,  which  restriction  amounted  to 
a  virtual  prohibition.  The  commerce  resulting  from  our 
railroads  consequently  has  been,  with  comparatively  slight 
exceptions,  a  creation  of  the  last  decade. 

The  line  next  opened,  and  connecting  the  Western  sys- 
tem of  lakes  and  rivers  with  tide-water,  was  that  extending 
from  Boston  to  Ogdensburg,  composed  of  distinct  links, 
the  last  of  which  was  completed  during  1850.  The  third 
was  the  New  York  &  Erie,  which  was  opened  on  the  22d 
of  April,  1851.  The  fourth  in  geographical  order  was 
the  Pennsylvania,  which  was  completed  in  1852,  although 
its  mountain  division  was  not  opened  till  1854.  Previous 
to  this  time  its  summit  was  overcome  by  a  series  of  in- 
clined planes,  with  stationary  engines,  constructed  by  the 
State.  The  fifth  great  line,  the  Baltimore  &  Ohio,  was 
opened  in  1853  still  farther  south.  The  Tennessee  River, 
a  tributary  of  the  Mississippi  was  reached  in  1850  by 
the  Western  &  Atlantic  Railroad  of  Georgia,  and  the  Mis- 
sissippi itself  by  the  Memphis  &  Charleston  Railroad  in 
1859.  In  the  extreme  north  the  Atlantic  &  St.  Lawrence, 
now  known  as  the  Grand  Trunk,  was  completed  early  in 
1853.  In  1858  the  Virginia  system  was  extended  to  a 


RAILROADS  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES.  281 

connection  with  the  Memphis  &  Charleston  and  with  the 
Nashville  &  Chattanooga  Eailroad. 

The  eight  great  works  named,  connecting  the  interior 
with  the  seaboard,  are  the  trunks  or  base-lines  upon  which 
is  erected  the  vast  system  that  now  overspreads  the  whole 
country.  They  serve  as  outlets  to  the  interior  for  its  pro- 
ducts, which  would  have  little  or  no  commercial  value 
without  improved  highways,  the  cost  of  transportation 
over  which  does  not  equal  one-tenth  that  over  ordinary 
roads.  The  works  named,  assisted  by  the  Erie  Canal,  now 
afford  ample  means  for  the  expeditious  and  cheap  trans- 
portation of  produce-seeking  Eastern  markets,  and  could 
without  being  overtaxed  transport  the  entire  surplus  pro- 
ducts of  the  interior. 

Previous  to  1850  by  far  the  greater  portion  of  railroads 
constructed  were  in  the  States  bordering  the  Atlantic,  and, 
as  before  remarked,  were  for  the  most  part  isolated  lines, 
whose  limited  traffics  were  altogether  local.  Up  to  the 
date  named,  the  internal  commerce  of  the  country  was 
conducted  almost  entirely  through  water  lines,  natural  and 
artificial,  and  over  ordinary  highways.  The  period  of 
the  settlement  of  California  marks  really  the  commence- 
ment of  the  new  era  in  the  physical  progress  of  the  United 
States.  The  vast  quantities  of  gold  it  produced  imparted 
new  life  and  activity  to  every  portion  of  the  Union,  par 
ticularly  the  Western  States,  the  people  of  which,  at  the 
commencement  of  1850,  were  thoroughly  aroused  as  to 
the  value  and  importance  of  railroads.  Each  presented 
great  facilities  for  the  construction  of  such  works  which 
promised  to  be  almost  equally  productive.  Enterprises 
were  undertaken  and  speedily  executed  which  have  lite- 
rally converted  them  into  a  net-work  of  lines,  and  secured 
their  advantages  to  almost  every  farmer  and  producer. 

The  progress  of  these  works  in  the  aggregate,  year  by 
year,  will  be  seen  by  the  tabular  statements  at  the  close 

24* 


282  RAILROADS  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

of  the  report.  The  only  important  line  opened  in  the 
West,  previous  to  1850,  was  the  one  from  Sandusky  to 
Cincinnati,  formed  by  the  Mad  River  and  Little  Miami 
Roads.  But  these  pioneer  works  were  rude,  unsubstantial 
structures  compared  with  the  finished  works  of  the  present 
day,  and  were  employed  almost  wholly  in  the  transporta- 
tion of  passengers. 

With  the  advantages  arising  from  the  railroad  routes, 
it  is  not  at  all  surprising  that  our  postal  facilities  have  in- 
creased to  such  an  extent  that,  next  to  the  telegraphic  wires, 
it  may  rank  as  one  of  the  most  extraordinary  operative 
institutions  in  this  or  any  other  country  in  the  world. 

It  will  be  perceived  that  in  speaking  of  the  department 
the  author  has  paid  little  or  no  attention  to  the  rebellion 
in  connection  with  its  operations.  Situated  as  he  is  in  the 
department,  his  opportunities  are  such  that  if  the  business 
of  the  office  has  lessened,  as  is  supposed,  in  consequence, 
there  is  not  a  man  engaged  but  must  truly  say  that,  instead 
of  such  being  the  case,  their  labors,  as  well  as  the  business 
of  the  office,  never  presented  a  more  stirring  and  flourish- 
ing appearance.  In  some  respects  it  may  have  aifected 
the  general  income,  but  upon  the  whole  the  vast  increase 
of  army  letters  and  newspaper  circulation,  added  to  sundry 
articles  of  wearing-apparel  coming  under  postal  regula- 
tions, we  question  if  this  deficiency  has  not  been  partially, 
if  not  entirely,  overcome.  To  a  certain  extent  it  affected 
foreign  postage.  The  following  statement,  however,  will 
convey  a  better  idea  of  the  postal  finances  than  that  of 
any  theory  established  upon  "  why  and  whereof."  Figures, 
they  say,  never  lie;  but  may  not  the  master-hand  forming 
them  occasionally  err  in  their  formation  ? 

The  postal  revenues  for  the  year  ending  the  30th  of 
June  last  were  $12,438,233.78,  and  the  expenditures  of  this 
department  during  the  same  period  were  $12,644,786.20, 
showing  an  excess  of  the  latter  of  $206,532.42.  The  ave- 


RAILROADS  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES.  283 

rage  annual  receipts  of  this  department  from  1859  to  1861, 
inclusive,  were  $8,745,282.62,  and  the  average  annual  ex- 
penditures for  the  same  period  were  $14,482,008.44,  show- 
ing an  average  annual  excess  of  expenditures  over  receipts 
of  $5,736,725.82 ;  and  the  average  annual  receipts  from 
1862  to  1864,  inclusive,  were  $10,871,530.97,  and  the  ex- 
penditures, $11,694,785.72,  showing  an  average  annual 
excess  of  expenditures  over  receipts  of  $823,254.75. 

The  excess  of  receipts  in  1864  over  1861,  the  first  year 
of  the  rebellion,  was  $4,088,957.38. 

Although  the  proportion  of  receipts  as  against  the  ex- 
penditures has  doubtless  been  increased  on  account  of  the 
suspension  of  the  postal  service  in  the  insurrectionary 
States,  the  above  furnishes  the  evidence  of  an  improving 
financial  condition  of  the  department  highly  creditable  to 
the  administration  of  my  immediate  predecessor. 

The  estimate  of  expenditure  for  1864  was  fixed  at 
$13,000,000,  in  which  was  included  the  sum  of  $1,000,000 
specially  appropriated  for  the  overland  mail-service,  being 
$355,213.80  more  than  the  amount  actually  expended. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  revenues  of  1864  were  estimated 
at  an  increase  of  five  per  cent,  on  those  of  1862,  making 
$8,714,000,  while  they  actually  reached  $12,438,253.78, 
or  $3,724,253.73  more  than  the  estimate.  This  increase 
equals  42f  per  cent. 

The  increase  of  expenditures  in  1864,  compared  with 
those  of  1863,  is  llf  per  cent.,  and  the  increase  in  the 
revenues  for  the  same  year  llf  per  cent. 

This  exhibit  promises  an  increase  of  the  revenues  for 
1865  over  the  estimate  submitted  in  the  report  of  last 
year. 

The  revenues  of  this  department  for  the  year  ending 
June  30, 1865,  were  $14,556,158.70,  and  the  expenditures 
$13,694,728.28,  leaving  a  surplus  of  $861,430.42. 

The  ratio  of  increase  of  revenue  was  17  per  cent.,  and 


284  IMPOMTANT  FA  CTS. 

of  expenditure  8  per  cent.,  compared  with  the  previous 
year. 

ESTIMATES   FOR   1866. 

The  expenditures  of  all  kinds  for  the  fiscal  year  ending 
June  30,  1866,  are  estimated  at $14,098,500  00 

The  gross  revenue  for  the  year  1866,  including  foreign 
postage  and  miscellaneous  receipts,  is  estimated  at 
an  increase  of  six  per  cent,  on  the  revenue  of  1864, 
making 13,184,547  79 


Estimated  deficiency  of  revenue  compared  with  esti- 
mated expenditures 913,952  21 

From  this  sum  must  be  deducted  the  amount  of  the 
permanent  appropriations  to  compensate  the  depart- 
ment for  carrying  free  mail-matter,  under  acts  of 
March  3,  1847,  and  March  3,  1851 700,000  00 


By  which  the  estimated  deficiency  is  reduced  to $213,952  21 

The  grants  for  the  transportation  of  free  mail-matter 
for  the  last  two  fiscal  years  have  not  been  expended. 
Assuming  that  the  amount  of  $700,000  for  the  last  year 
is  still  available,  no  appropriation  for  any  deficiency  in 
the  revenues  will  be  required. 

In  making  the  estimate  of  probable  expenditures  for 
1866,  the  amounts  actually  expended  under  the  several 
heads  during  the  past  fiscal  year  have  been  taken  as  a 
basis ;  but  an  increase  in  several  of  the  items  named  has 
become  necessary,  particularly  in  the  appropriation  for 
postage-stamps  and  stamped  envelopes,  the  estimated  cost 
of  the  latter  being  increased  $140,000  per  annum,  accord- 
ing to  the  terms  of  a  new  contract  elsewhere  referred  to 
in  this  report. 

IMPORTANT  FACTS. 

The  maximum  annual  receipts  of  the  postal  depart- 
ment, previous  to  the  rebellion,  from  all  the  States  was 
$8,518,067.40,  which  was  exceeded  in  the  sum  of 
$6,038,091.30  by  the  receipts  of  the  last  year  from  the 


IMPORTANT  FACTS. 


285 


loyal  States  alone.  The  revenues  during  the  past  four 
years  amounted  to  $46,458,022.97,  an  average  of 
$11,614,505.74  per  annum.  Compared  with  the  receipts 
of  the  four  years  immediately  preceding,  which  amounted 
to  $32,322,640.73,  the  annual  average  increase  of  revenue 
was  $3,533,845.56,  which  has  not  resulted  from  any  con- 
siderable additions  to  the  service,  the  ratio  of  receipts  to 
expenditures  having  been  larger  than,  with  few  exceptions, 
at  any  previous  period.  A  proper  regard  to  economy  in 
administration,  aided  by  larger  contributions  from  all  the 
States  of  the  Union,  will  enable  the  department  to  in- 
crease its  usefulness  from  year  to  year  in  all  its  legitimate 
functions.  But  it  must  not  be  overlooked  that  the  ability 
to  fully  perform  its  mission  as  the  postal  agent  of  the 
Government  is  greatly  impaired  by  the  burdens  imposed 
by  the  franking  privilege  and  expensive  service  upon 
routes  established  for  other  than  postal  purposes,  the 
receipts  from  which  are  largely  unremunerative.  How- 
ever much  the  establishment  of  these  routes  is  to  be  com- 
mended for  national  objects,  in  which  regard  they  com- 
mand the  approval  of  the  country,  it  is  not  possible  to 
see  upon  what  principle  they  are  wholly  chargeable  to  the 
postal  fund,  which  belongs  to  those  by  whom  it  has  been 
contributed,  and  is  pledged  to  meet  the  wants  of  the  postal 
service. 

The  subjoined  table  illustrates  the  misapplication  of  the 
postal  funds : — 


Routes. 

Pay. 

Receipts. 

Excess  of  pay. 

Salt  Lake  City  to  Folsom  

$385  000  ) 

365,000  / 

$23,934  44 

$726,065  56 

Kansas  City  to  Santa  Fe"  
Lincoln  to  Portland  

35,743 
225  000 

6,536  57 
24  791  67 

29,206  43 
200  208  33 

The  Dalles  to  Salt  Lake  

186,000  ' 

5,660  77 

180,339  23 

Total  ... 

1.196.743 

60.923  45 

1.135.819  55 

286  THE  RAILWAY  POSTAL  SYSTEM. 

THE  RAILWAY  POSTAL  SYSTEM. 

This  system,  which  was  suggested  by  the  celebrated 
Rowland  Hill,  originated  at  a  period  in  English  postal 
history  when  the  requirements  of  trade  and  commerce 
demanded  a  revisal  of  the  code.  Perhaps  no  man  was 
better  qualified  for  the  purpose  than  was  Mr.  Hill.  In 
1839  railroad  post-offices  were  in  use  for  mail-bags.  Each 
railway  company  provided  a  car,  when  desired  to  do  so 
by  the  postmaster-general,  for  the  exclusive  use  of  the 
mails.  These  cars  were  fitted  up  with  boxes  to  facilitate 
the  distribution  and  reception  of  the  mails.  On  the 
London  and  Liverpool  Road  (1839)  it  required  the  con- 
stant and  active  employment  of  two  clerks  to  assort, 
receive,  and  hand  out  the  mails :  such  is  the  rapidity  of 
travel,  and  so  numerous  are  the  post-offices  upon  this 
route.  Subsequently  these  cars  were  used  for  the  dis- 
tribution of  letters  in  large  cities,  by  assorting  them  on 
the  routes.  Not  only  were  such  distributions  made  on 
the  cars  for  all  the  principal  stations  on  the  line  of  the 
railroads  before  the  arrival  of  the  cars,  but  distributions 
for  the  offices  connected  with  the  stations,  and  therefore 
incidentally  for  the  entire  district  of  country  through  which 
the  lines  are  in  operation.  It  was  some  time  before  our 
postal  department  could  be  made  sensible  of  the  necessity 
of  the  system  in  our  country.  Perhaps  no  other  country 
in  the  world  possessed  a  larger  amount  of  railroad  travel 
and  postal  extent  than  ours,  and  yet  the  spirit  of  old 
fogyism  was  hard  to  be  subdued  in  the  encounter  Young 
America  had  with  it  on  this  subject,  nor  was  it  until  the 
cars  were  almost  forced  upon  the  department  (experiment- 
ally) that  they  were  first  introduced.  These  experiments 
were  made  on  the  routes  from  Chicago,  Illinois,  to  Clinton, 
Davenport,  and  Dubuque,  Iowa,  with  the  most  satisfactory 
results,  as  were  those  between  Washington  and  New  York. 


THE  RAILWAY  POSTAL  SYSTEM.  287 

The  attention  of  the  public  was  called  to  this  new  postal 
system  by  the  postmaster-general  (William  Dennison)  in 
his  report  for  the  fiscal  year  1864,  who  stated  "that  cars 
requisite  for  the  purpose  are  prepared  for  one  daily  line 
between  New  York  and  Washington,  and,  by  means  of 
clerks  taken  temporarily  from  the  post-offices  at  Wash- 
ington, Baltimore,  Philadelphia,  and  New  York,  letters 
intended  for  distribution  at  either  of  these  points  are  dis- 
tributed in  the  cars,  and  so  arranged  that  they  can  be 
despatched  without  delay  on  connecting  routes." 

Among  the  railroads  upon  which  these  cars  are  placed 
are  the  Pennsylvania  Central,  between  Philadelphia  and 
Pittsburg :  in  fact,  the  system  is  now  so  fully  established 
that  it  has  become  an  essential  element  in  the  whole 
organization  of  the  postal  department.  Those  employed 
in  the  several  post-offices  from  which  the  light  of  order 
radiates,  under  this  new  system,  can  fully  appreciate  the 
advantages  resulting  from  it,  as  merchants  and  others 
already  acknowledge 

"  This  radiated  head  of  the  Phoenix," 

as  it  rises  above  the  ashes  of  the  old  fogy  system. 

Mail-matter  from  every  direction  will  reach  our  citizens 
much  earlier,— in  most  cases  several  hours  sooner.  This 
will  show  at  once  how  essential  to  our  merchants  is  this 
new  improvement :  nor  can  we  at  this  early  period  of  its 
introduction  calculate  all  the  advantages  likely  to  result 
from  it.  The  idea  of  a  post-office  performing  its  dis- 
tributing duties  on  a  railway,  going  at  the  rate  of  thirty 
miles  an  hour,  is  one  of  those  scintillations  of  genius  which 
only  emits  light  once  in  a  century, — that  century  the 
present.* 

*  The  postal  history  of  Russia,  like  that  of  all  other  countries,  is 
based  upon  its  trade  and  commerce.  Its  railroads  and  canals,  running 
through  its  vast  extent  of  country,  afford  equal  facility  for  its  mails. 


288  THE  FRANKING  PRIVILEGE. 

THE  FRANKING  PRIVILEGE. 

"  I  have  said  so  much,  that  if  I  had  not  a  frank  I  must  burn  my  letter  and 
begin  again." — COWPER. 

It  is  the  abuse  of  certain  privileges,  which  all  govern- 
ments accord  to  a  portion  of  its  officers,  which  leads  to 
fraud,  crime,  and  corruption.  Among  these,  that  of  the 
franking  system  may  be  ranked  as  a  most  prominent  one. 
Had  it  been  checked  at  an  earlier  period  of  our  postal 
history,  how  many  evils  would  have  been  prevented,  and 
how  far  more  plethoric  would  have  been  its  treasury ! 

As  early  as  1782,  even  in  its  incipient  state,  far-seeing 
men  objected  to  its  exercise.  In  December  (6th),  1782, 
an  ordinance  extending  the  privilege  of  franking  letters 
to  the  heads  of  all  the  departments  was  reported  and 
taken  up.  Various  ideas  were  thrown  out  on  the  subject 
at  large, — some  contending  for  the  extension  proposed, 
some  for  a  total  abolition  of  the  privilege  as  well  in 
members  of  Congress  as  in  others,  some  for  a  limitation 
of  the  privilege  to  a  definite  number  or  weight  of  letters. 
Those  who  contended  for  a  total  abolition  represented  the 
privilege  as  productive  of  abuses,  reducing  the  profits  so 
low  as  to  prevent  the  extension  of  the  establishment 
throughout  the  United  States,  and  throwing  the  whole 
burden  of  the  establishment  on  the  mercantile  intercourse. 
On  the  other  side,  it  was  contended  that  in  case  of  an 


Russia  has  her  distributing  cars  for  mails,  and  from  its  every  post  they 
are  rapidly  carried  throughout  the  kingdom. 

Recently  the  French  Government  has  introduced  mail-cars  on  the 
routes  from  Paris  to  Brest  and  from  Paris  to  Calais.  Mails  to  Germany, 
or  at  least  to  certain  portions  of  its  postal  latitude,  are  thrown  out 
at  a  point  between  Paris  and  Calais,  at  what  is  termed  the  "Junction 
Road."  To  follow  up  this  portion  of  postal  history  would  furnish  a 
most  interesting  account  of  the  whole  system,  and  show  to  the  world 
how  insignificant  are  all  other  policies  of  rule,  political,  scientific,  and 
military,  when  compared  with  that  of  TRADE  AND  COMMERCE. 


THE  FRANKING  PRIVILEGE.  289 

abolition  the  delegates  or  their  constituents  would  be 
taxed  just  in  proportion  to  their  distance  from  the  seat  of 
Congress, — which  was  neither  just  nor  politic,  considering 
the  many  other  disadvantages  which  were  inseparable 
from  that  distance ;  that,  as  the  correspondence  of  the 
delegates  was  the  principal  channel  through  which  a 
general  knowledge  of  public  affairs  was  diffused,  any 
abridgment  of  it  would  in  so  far  confine  this  advantage  to 
the  States  within  the  neighborhood  of  Congress,  and  that 
as  the  correspondence  at  present,  however  voluminous,  did 
not  exclude  from  the  mail  any  private  letters  which  would 
be  subject  to  postage,  and  if  postage  was  extended  to  letters 
now  franked  the  number  and  size  of  them  would  be 
essentially  reduced,  the  revenue  was  not  affected  in  the 
manner  represented.  The  ordinance  was  disagreed  to, 
and  the  subject  recommitted  with  instructions  to  the  com- 
mittee, giving  them  ample  latitude  for  such  report  as  they 
should  think  fit.  Whether  the  report  was  ever  made  we 
are  not  advised ;  but  its  latitude  has  increased  with  the 
introduction  of  every  new  State  and  Territory.  Since  the 
above  date,  almost  every  postmaster-general  has  alluded 
to  the  franking  privilege.  Mr.  Blair,  in  his  report  of 
1863,  says,— 

"  I  renew  the  recommendation  made  last  year,  that  the 
franking  privilege  of  postmasters  be  abolished,  except  for 
correspondence  between  them  and  other  officers  of  the 
department  upon  official  business. 

"  It  should  be  abolished  also  as  to  the  correspondence 
of  all  persons  addressed  to  the  several  departments  and 
executive  officers  of  government,  except  upon  official  cor- 
respondence addressed  by  an  officer  of  the  government. 

"  Both  these  privileges,  as  they  now  exist,  have  been 
much  abused,  and  have  no  proper  place  in  a  correct  postal 
system." 

Mr.  Blair,  however,  falls  into  the  same  error  that  many 

25 


290  THE  FRANKING  PRIVILEGE. 

official  rulers  commit, — that  of  calculating  chances  of  suc- 
cess, instead  of  commanding  them.  In  the  report  alluded 
to,  we  find  this  passage : — that  *'  the  postal  revenue  has 
nearly  equalled  the  entire  expenditures, — the  latter  amount- 
ing to  $11,314,206.84,  and  the  former  to  $11,163,789.59, 
leaving  a  deficiency  of  but  $150,417.25.  Good  reason, 
therefore,  exists  for  the  expectation  that  within  a  brief 
period  this  important  department  of  the  General  Govern- 
ment will  become  self-sustaining." 

We  do  not  think  so.  The  postal  department  is  not,  nor 
can  it  ever  be  made,  a  speculative  one.  It  is  based  on  the 
increase  of  trade  and  commerce  throughout  an  extent  of 
country  unparalleled  in  history,  as  uniting  in  one  system 
of  rule  upwards  of  thirty  millions  of  people.  To  keep 
up  the  routes  over  such  a  vast  space,  connecting  State  to 
State,  Territory  to  Territory,  passing  over  lakes,  rivers, 
mountains,  even  over  the  land-route  to  California,  through 
almost  impassable  sections,  contending  with  difficulties 
scarcely  to  be  realized  in  descriptions,  the  expense  is  ne- 
cessarily great.  Previous  to  1850  many  of  the  routes 
bordering  the  Atlantic  were  for  the  most  part  isolated 
lines,  near  to  which  trade  and  traffic  had  not  approached. 
The  settlement  of  California,  and  the  opening  of  a  trade 
which  has  ultimately  proved  a  second  Peru,  as  regards 
gold,  may  be  dated  as  the  commencement  of  a  new  era 
in  the  physical  progress  of  our  country.  In  connect- 
ing a  line  of  posts,  establishing  post-offices,  and  furnishing 
modes  of  conveyance,  the  question  of  dollars  and  cents  is 
but  a  secondary  consideration.  The  word  profit  was  re- 
pudiated, and  the  sole  purpose  of  the  government  was  to 
establish  the  post,  no  matter  at  what  cost.  The  time  may 
come  when  it  shall  prove  self-sustaining,  but  never  if  at 
the  expense  of  the  public  interest,  nor  while  the  franking 
system  exists. 

We  contend  that  every  letter,  document,  or  newspaper, 


THE  FRANKING  PRIVILEGE.  291 

no  matter  by  whom  mailed,  or  how  high  the  functionary, 
should  be  prepaid ;  for  men  in  authority  are  the  servants 
of  the  people,  and  have  no  more  claim  upon  the  public 
treasury  than  has  the  lowest  worker  in  any  of  the  depart- 
ments. Trie  postal  department,  however,  in  its  official  cor- 
respondence, should  be  the  only  exception  to  the  rule. 

Nor  is  it  the  mere  privilege  we  complain  of,  but  its 
abuse.  Reduce  it  to  an  honest  and  equitable  use,  and  we 
venture  to  say  the  public  will  endure  the  act. 

Mr.  George  Plitt,  in  his  report  while  a  special  agent 
of  the  post-office  department,  made  February  3,  1841, 
speaking  of  the  franking  privilege,  says,  "The  actual 
number  of  franked  packages  sent  from  the  post-office  of 
Washington  City  during  the  week  ending  on  the  7th  of 
July  last  was  201,534;  and  the  whole  number  sent 
during  the  last  session  of  Congress  amounted  to  the 
enormous  quantity  of  4,314,948.  All  these  packages 
are  not  only  carried  by  the  department  into  every  sec- 
tion of  the  country  free  of  charge,  but  it  is  actually 
obliged  to  pay  to  every  postmaster  whose  commissions  do 
n.flff  amount  to  $2000  per  annum,  two  cents  for  the  delivery 
of  each  one!  Supposing  all  the  above  to  have  been  de- 
livered, the  department  would  lose  from  its  revenue  for 
this  one  item  upwards  of  $80,000,  besides  paying  for  the 
mail-transportation." 

In  1834  the  "Washington  Globe,"  speaking  upon  this 
subject,  used  the  following  language  : — 

"Particular  cases  of  gross  abuse  upon  the  post-office 
are  within  our  knowledge,  and  the  postmaster-general  will 
be  informed  of  hundreds  of  others.  The  opinion  of  those 
acquainted  with  the  subject,  which  we  have  no  doubt  is 
correct,  is  that  the  department  has  lost  within  the  last 
year,  by  the  extension  of  the  franking  privileges  of  the 
members  of  Congress,  and  by  abuses  of  law,  more  than 
one  hundred  thousand  dollars.  This  revenue  would  in  a 


292  THE  FRANKING  PRIVILEGE. 

short  time  pay  off  the  debts  of  the  department,  and  leave 
the  people  all  the  mails  they  now  have.  Who  loses  this 
sum?  Not  the  department  only,  but  the  people, — the 
honest  correspondents  by  the  post,  who  prefer  paying 
postage  on  their  letters  to  obtaining  franks.  In  fact,  the 
abuses  are  growing  so  rapidly  as  to  justify  a  fear  of  their 
endangering  the  establishment.  The  restrictions  of  the 
law  seem  to  have  been  by  some  men  wholly  borne  down 
and  prostrated,  and  the  franking  privilege  is  rapidly  ex- 
tending itself  over,  and  covering  a  great  part  of,  the  ordi- 
nary private  correspondence  of  the  country." 

The  post-office  is  an  establishment  of  the  greatest 
utility.  The  law  throws  it  upon  its  receipts  for  postage 
as  its  sole  support.  When  these  fail,  the  mails  must 
stop ;  and  every  dollar  that  is  taken  from  them  is  so  much 
drawn  from  the  service  of  the  public.  The  duty,  there- 
fore, of  protecting  the  department  from  the  loss  of  its 
revenue  is  imposed  upon  the  postmaster-general  not 
only  by  the  general  principle  of  the  law,  but  by  the 
necessity  of  saving  the  establishment  from  annihilation, 
total  or  partial.  The  sentiment  of  the  people,  ever  against 
abuse  and  the  improper  use  of  privilege,  will  sustain  the 
postmaster-general  in  his  course. 

The  "Globe,"  after  alluding  to  the  further  abuse  of 
the  franking  privilege,  says, — 

"  If  the  government  had  been  placed  upon  the  footing 
of  citizens,  and  had  paid  during  Mr.  Barry's  administra- 
tion one-third  even  of  what  these  would  have  paid  for 
the  same  services,  would  the  department  have  been  in 
debt  ?  Strike  an  account  with  the  executive  government 
only,  even  for  the  last  year,  and  we  find  that  the  balance 
due  to  the  department,  including  the  losses  by  abuses, 
would  more  than  pay  its  whole  debts.  To  those,  then, 
who  charge  that  the  department  is  '  insolvent/  we  say 
that  its  unrequited  labors  have  justly  earned  for  it  a 


THE  FRANKING  PRIVILEGE.  293 

revenue   more  than  sufficient  to  meet   all    the   demands 
against  it." 

In  connection  with  this  subject, — and  it  is  one  that,  when 
fully  exposed,  will  astonish  the  country, — we  annex  the 
following  from  the  "American  Merchant,"  New  York, 
for  July,  1859.  "There  is  not  the  slightest  doubt  that 
very  extensive  frauds  may  be  successfully  carried  on  in 
the  department ;  but  we  incline  to  the  opinion,  however, 
that  the  most  aggravated  ( frauds'  perpetrated  on  the 
department,  and  which  are  the  more  hard  to  be  borne 
that  there  is  no  remedy  for  them  under  the  existing  law, 
are  those  which  grow  out  of  the  franking  privilege.  It 
would  astonish  the  world,  could  the  figures  be  correctly 
ascertained,  to  see  to  what  extent  this  evil  is  carried. 
From  a  statement  made  by  the  postmaster  of  Washing- 
ton City  to  the  Post-Office  Committee  of  the  House  of 
Representatives,  in  January,  1854,  we  gather  the  follow- 
ing items  of  '  franked'  matter  sent  during  one  month 
from  Washington  alone : — 

Pounds  weight.  Postage. 

Letters  from  members  of  Congress 3,446  $4,664 

Documents         "                      "         693,508  110,961 

Letters  from  Departments 7,065  6,782 

Newspapers  (numberingl,  110,020) 111,002  11,100 

Total  for  one  month 815,021         $133,507 

For  twelve  months 9,780,242        1,602,087 

Postage  for  one  year,  if  not  prepaid 3,158,390 

"Let  it  be  remembered  that  this  amount  of  $2,500,000, 
which  is  a  fair  average  for  one  year,  is  actually  taken  out 
of  the  revenues  of  the  department  in  one  city.  Is  it 
strange  that  our  postal  system  should  be  non-supporting  ? 

"  If  it  be  right  that  the  General  Government  should  de- 
fray the  expenses  of  sending  'pub.  docs/  and  the  public 
and  private  correspondence  of  members  of  Congress  to 
every  part  of  the  country,  then  a  sufficient  appropriation 

25* 


294  THE  FRANKING  PRIVILEGE. 

should  be  made  for  that  purpose,  and  there  should  be 
some  means  of  fixing  a  limit  to  this  system  of  dead-head- 
ing. And  if  letters,  papers,  and  public  documents  were 
the  only  commodities  transported  under  this  talismanic 
6 frank/  it  would  be  less  a  matter  of  concernment;  but 
when,  as  has  been  the  case,  members  of  Congress  send 
home  their  dirty  linen  to  be  washed,  at  the  expense  of  the 
post-office  department,  the  subject  assumes  a  more  serious 
aspect,  and  the  sovereign  people — very  impudently,  perhaps 
— persist  in  knowing  why  such  things  are.  From  the  state- 
ments of  the  department  for  the  ten  years  ending  with 
1856,  the  total  expenses  were  $68,136,197,  and  the  reve- 
nue from  postages  $54,014,652,  leaving  a  deficiency  of 
$14,121,545.  The  appropriation  by  government  during 
the  same  space  was  $5,626,682, — which  reduces  the  actual 
deficiency  to  a  little  more  than  $9,000,000." 

Many  of  the  packages  thus  franked,  even  when  re- 
ceived by  the  parties,  to  whom  they  are  sent,  are  rarely 
opened,  for  the  simple  reason  that  the  newspapers  (which 
also  go  free)  containing  the  same  documents  or  speeches 
have  already  been  received,  read,  and  commented  upon. 
For  instance :  it  is  well  known  to  every  member  of  Con- 
gress, and  to  every  one  connected  with  the  post-office,  that 
long  after  the  President's  message  has  been  published  in 
every  newspaper  throughout  the  country,  thousands  upon 
thousands  are  sent  daily  under  frank  from  Washington. 
This  was  our  written  objection  to  the  privilege  in  1841. 
Now  the  same  thing  extends  to  "Annual  Keports"  of  the 
respective  heads  of  departments,  other  reports,  and  speeches 
of  members  of  Congress,  which  are  never  read  in  pamphlet 
form  by  the  masses  to  whom  they  are  sent.  Many  of 
these  speeches,  which  attracted  no  attention  in  the  House 
and  created  little  or  no  sensation  out  of  it,  are  handsomely 
gotten  up,  neatly  printed,  artistically  stitched,  and  mailed 
by  the  members  at  the  expense  of  the  government  to  their 


THE  FRANKING  PRIVILEGE.  295 

constituents,  to  whose  literary  merit  and  classical  beauties 
the  words  of  Virgil  would  most  aptly  apply : — 

"Monstrum  horrendum,  informe,  ingens,  cui  lumen  ademtum." 

There  are  two  meanings  to  this  terrible  passage  from 
the  Latin  poet.  The  learned  reader  will  apply  the  less 
terrible  to  the  subject  in  question. 

It  would  present  a  painful  picture  were  we  to  sum  up 
by  number,  bulk,  and  character  the  public  documents 
which  weigh  down  the  mails  passing  from  Washington 
City  to  every  other  in  the  country, — not  cities  alone,  but 
towns,  villages,  hamlets,  grog-shops,  and  places  not  repu- 
table, either  to  the  sender  or  the  recipient,  to  name.  Docu- 
ments, such  as  valuable  books,  find  their  way  as  per  direc- 
tion to  ignorant  blacks  and  foreigners,  many  of  whom  can 
neither  read  nor  write.  Wholesale  and  ponderous  as  are 
these  costly  matters,  they  are  few  in  comparison  to  the 
speeches  which  members  of  Congress  send  to  their  con- 
stituents. We  refrain  from  alluding  further  to  these 
matters,  as  we  feel  humiliated  as  a  citizen  of  the  United 
States  when  we  consider  that  it  is  done  under  the  law. 

J.  Holt,  postmaster-general,  in  his  report  (1859),  speak- 
ing of  the  franking  privilege,  says, — 

"  It  may  be  added,  if  it  is  proper  that  the  government 
shall  be  charged  with  the  expense  of  conveying  the  matter 
now  passing  free  through  the  mails,  justice  alike  to  the 
public  and  to  the  department  requires  that  the  amount 
thus  due  shall  be  precisely  ascertained, — which  can  best  be 
done  by  prepayment  at  the  mailing-offices.  There  can  be 
no  enlightened  administration  of  the  postal  system  without 
a  complete  knowledge  of  its  financial  resources  and  lia- 
bilities, which  can  never  be  attained  while  the  incubus  of 
the  franking  privilege  is  hanging  over  it.  Under  the 
stifling  pressure,  too,  of  this  incubus,  the  department  is 
forced  to  continual  efforts  to  ameliorate  its  condition,  which 


296  THE  FRANKING  PRIVILEGE. 

must  often  result  in  curtailments  to  be  deplored,  because 
they  deprive  the  public  of  mail-accommodations  for  which 
they  have  fully  paid,  and  which  they  are,  therefore,  entitled 
to  enjoy. 

"  Another  potent  reason  for  the  abolition  of  the  franking 
privilege,  as  now  exercised,  is  found  in  the  abuses  which 
seem  to  be  inseparable  from  its  existence.  These  abuses, 
though  constantly  exposed  and  animadverted  upon  for  a 
series  of  years,  have  as  constantly  increased.  It  has  been 
often  stated  by  my  predecessors,  and  is  a  matter  of  public 
notoriety,  that  immense  masses  of  packages  are  transported 
under  the  government  frank  which  neither  the  letter  nor 
spirit  of  the  statute  creating  the  franking  privilege  would 
justify;  that  a  large  number  of  letters,  documents,  and 
packages  are  thus  conveyed,  covered  by  the  frank  of 
officials,  written,  in  violation  of  law,  not  by  themselves, 
but  by  some  real  or  pretended  agent;  while  whole  sacks 
of  similar  matter,  which  have  never  been  handled  nor  seen 
even  by  government  functionaries,  are  transported  under 
franks  which  have  been  forged.  The  extreme  difficulty 
of  detecting  such  forgeries  has  greatly  multiplied  this  class 
of  offences,  whilst  their  prevalence  has  so  deadened  the 
public  sentiment  in  reference  to  them  that  a  conviction, 
however  ample  the  proof,  is  scarcely  possible  to  be  ob- 
tained. The  statute  of  1825,  denouncing  the  counterfeiting 
of  an  official  frank  under  a  heavy  penalty,  is  practically 
inoperative." 

The  French  deputies  and  peers  have  no  franking  privi- 
lege; in  England  it  was  abolished  for  members  of  Parlia- 
ment since  the  establishment  of  the  penny  post.  For  an 
amusing  account  of  an  abuse  of  the  franking  privilege  in 
England,  see  page  66. 

Having  expressed  our  opinion  and  given  that  of  others 
on  the  abuse  of  the  franking  privilege  and  on  the  propriety, 
in  a  national  point  of  view,  of  doing  away  with  it  entirely, 


THE  FRANKING  PRIVILEGE.  297 

it  is  by  no  means  implied  that  a  different  construction  of 
the  right  would  not  do  away  with  our  objections,  and  also 
those  of  the  many  who  consider  its  abuse  a  growing,  if 
not  a  dangerous,  evil.  Whatever  may  be  done  to  lessen 
the  evil,  as  well  as  the  heavy  expense  which  it  inflicts 
upon  our  government,  and  which  will  bring  about  a  state 
of  things  that  will  redound  to  the  credit  of  those  who 
inaugurate  a  reform  in  this  department  of  our  government, 
will  be  cordially  endorsed  by  the  people. 

Our  members  of  Congress,  it  is  true,  stand  politically 
very  differently  as  regards  positions  from  the  representatives 
of  other  nations ;  but,  still,  that  is  no  reason  why  govern- 
mental privilege  should  be  abused  to  the  extent  it  is. 

By  an  act  of  Congress  passed  at  the  Third  Session  of 
the  Thirty-Seventh  Congress,  December  1,  1862,  to  March 
4,  1863,  "The  postmaster-general  may  arrange  for  the 
delivery  by  route-agents  of  newspaper  bundles  not  taken 
from,  or  intended  for,  any  post-office.  The  postmaster- 
general  may  regulate  the  manner  of  wrapping  mail-matter 
not  paying  letter  postage,  so  that  it  may  be  easily  examined  ; 
and  postmasters  are  allowed  to  tear  off  the  wrappers  to  see 
if  letter  postage  is  evaded.  Publishers  dealing  with  the 
post-office  must  swrear  to  their  statements:  there  is  a  fine 
of  $50  for  each  offence  in  sending  papers  to  other  than 
subscribers  at  quarterly  rates.  The  franking  privilege  is 
limited  as  follows:  first,  the  President,  by  himself  or  his 
private  secretary;  second,  the  Vice-President;  third,  the 
chiefs  of  the  several  executive  departments;  fourth,  such 
principal  officers,  being  heads  of  bureaus  or  chief  clerks, 
of  each  executive  department,  to  be  used  only  for  official 
communications,  as  the  postmaster-general  shall  prescribe; 
fifth,  Senators  and  Representatives,  including  delegates 
from  Territories,  the  Secretary  of  the  Senate  and  Clerk  of 
the  House,  to  cover  correspondence  to  and  from  them,  and 
all  printed  matter  issued  by  authority  of  Congress,  and  all 


298  THE  FRANKING  PRIVILEGE. 

speeches,  proceedings,  and  debates  in  Congress,  and  all 
printed  matter  sent  to  them, — their  franking  privilege  to 
commence  with  the  term  for  which  they  are  elected,  and  to 
expire  on  the  first  Monday  of  December  following  such 
term  of  office;  sixth,  all  official  communications  addressed 
to  either  of  the  executive  departments  by  an  officer  re- 
sponsible to  that  department:  in  all  such  cases  the  en- 
velope should  be  marked  '  official/  with  the  signature 
thereto  of  the  officer;  seventh,  postmasters  have  the 
franking  privilege  for  official  communications  to  other 
postmasters:  in  such  cases  the  envelope  shall  be  marked 
'  official,7  with  the  signature  of  the  writer,  and  for  any  such 
endorsement  of  '  official7  falsely  made,  the  person  making 
the  same  shall  forfeit  $300;  eighth,  petitions  to  either 
branch  of  Congress  shall  pass  free  in  the  mails ;  ninth,  all 
communications  addressed  to  any  of  the  franking  officers 
above  described,  and  not  excepted  in  the  foregoing  clauses, 
must  be  prepaid  by  postage-stamps.  The  franking  privi- 
lege shall  be  limited  to  packages  weighing  not  exceeding 
four  ounces,  except  petitions  to  Congress  and  congressional 
or  executive  documents,  and  publications  published,  pro- 
cured, or  purchased  by  order  of  either  house,  which  shall 
be  considered  as  public  documents  and  entitled  to  be 
franked  as  such;  and  except,  also,  seeds,  cuttings,  roots, 
and  scions,  the  weight  of  the  packages  of  which  may  be 
fixed  by  regulations  of  the  postmaster-general.  Publishers 
of  periodicals,  magazines,  and  newspapers  which  shall  not 
exceed  sixteen  ounces  in  weight  shall  be  allowed  to  inter- 
change their  publications  reciprocally  free  of  postage,  such 
interchange  to  be  confined  to  a  single  copy  of  each  publi- 
cation.77 

This  act  took  eifect  July  1,  1863:  all  acts  inconsistent 
with  it  were  thereby  repealed. 

Here  is  an  extensive  pull  upon  the  postal  department, 
yet  one  that  if  strictly  adhered  to  would  not  create  such 


THE  FRANKING  PRIVILEGE.  299 

an  opposition  to  the  system  as  its  abuse  has  caused. 
Barrels  of  flour,  dirty  clothes,  and  other  family  matters 
certainly  are  not  included  in  the  above.  If  so,  then  will 
the  postal  department  have  to  connect  with  its  legitimate 
business  that  of  an  express.  A  "National  Franking 
Privilege  Express"  would  not  be  a  bad  title. 

Although  the  idea  of  the  government  becoming  a  com- 
mon carrier  of  dirty  linen,  barrels  of  flour,  immense  masses 
of  book-matter  and  documentary  papers,  was  never  enter- 
tained, yet  the  franking  privilege  is  gradually  preparing 
the  way  for  its  accomplishment.  It  is,  therefore,  evident 
to  us  that  the  system  is  gradually  destroying  the  whole 
theory  on  which  the  post-office  is  founded,  and  if  carried 
out  still  further  will  cripple  its  operations  materially.  It 
has  been  suggested  that  in  lieu  of  the  franking  privilege 
now  allowed  by  law  to  members  of  Congress  and  others, 
they  should  be  furnished  with  postage-stamps,  to  be  paid 
for  out  of  the  contingent  fund  of  the  House.  If  the  privi- 
lege is  to  be  extended  in  any  shape,  let  it  be  under  that  of 
the  franking  system;  for  the  moment  stamps  are  substi- 
tuted, that  very  moment  a  rush  for  "cash  representatives" 
will  be  most  eagerly  sought  for,  and'the  contingent  fund,  to 
use  a  modern  phrase,  will  "  be  soon  swallowed  up."  There 
wouM,  of  course,  be  less  franking  of  public  documents  by 
the  use  of  stamps,  but  a  far  more  extensive  use  of  them 
for  other  purposes.  This  has  been  clearly  illustrated  in 
some  of  our  States  where  the  stamps  have  been  substituted 
for  franking.  If,  however,  the  postage-stamp  system 
should  be  adopted,  let  the  transmission  of  books,  &c.  be 
forwarded,  under  the  direction  of  the  Secretary  of  the 
Senate  and  Clerk  of  the  House,  by  the  ordinary  mode  of 
conveyance.  This  would  be  a  check  on  those  extravagant 
members  who  consider  it  a  duty  due  their  constituents  to 
supply  them  with  books  enough  to  make  a  library.  In 
one  single  instance,  a  member  from  Utah,  in  1858,  cost  the 


300  THE  FRANKING  PRIVILEGE. 

government  over  seven  thousand  dollars  by  the  transmis- 
sion of  books,  &c. 

As  a  clear  and  explicit  definition  of  the  limits  of  the 
franking  privilege  of  members  of  Congress,  the  following 
letter  to  certain  members  of  Congress  who  claimed  certain 
(extended)  privileges  will  be  found  interesting.  The 
members  had  asked  leave  to  frank  certain  documents 
intended  to  aid  a  praiseworthy  object  not  strictly  entitled 
to  that  privilege,  as  well  as  other  favors  not  sanctioned  by 
either  the  letter  or  the  spirit  of  postal  laws,  rules,  and 
regulations : — 

"  POST-OFFICE  DEPARTMENT,  1865. 
"  APPOINTMENT-OFFICE,  WASHINGTON. 

" GENTLEMEN: — I  am  instructed  by  the  postmaster- 
general  to  acknowledge  the  receipt  of  your  joint  letter  of 
the  15th  instant,  and  to  say  that  while  he  fully  appreciates 
the  importance  of  furnishing  the  public  with  correct  in- 
formation on  the  subject  of  the  treatment  and  sufferings 
of  our  brave  men  who,  unfortunately,  are  prisoners  in  the 
hands  of  the  rebels,  and  would  willingly  lend  all  proper 
aid  in  his  power  to  accomplish  this  object,  he  cannot,  with 
his  sense  of  official  duty,  direct  the  postmaster  of  Boston 
to  respect  at  his  office  the  franks  of  members  of  the 
Senate  or  House  of  Representatives  while  they  are  sojourn- 
ing at  the  seat  of  government.  Nor  can  he  authorize  the 
use  of  fae-simile  stamps  for  the  purpose  of  franking 
matter  passing  through  the  mails. 

"  The  franking  privilege  to  Senators  and  members  of 
Congress  is  a  personal  one,  and  travels  with  the  party 
entitled  to  it,  and  cannot  be  exercised  in  two  or  more 
places  at  the  same  time.  By  the  terms  of  the  law,  it  is 
'  to  cover  correspondence  to  and  from  them,  and  all  printed 
matter  issued  by  authority  of  Congress,  and  all  speeches, 
proceedings,  debates  in  Congress,  and  all  printed  matter 
sent  to  them/  thus  limiting  the  privilege  to  the  matter 


THE  FRANKING  PRIVILEGE.  301 

herein  named.  Consequently,  if  it  come  to  the  knowledge 
of  a  postmaster  that  a  package  bearing  a  proper  frank  is 
composed  of  matter  not  named  in  the  law,  it  becomes  his 
duty  to  disregard  such  frank  and  charge  postage  thereon. 

"The  standing  regulations  of  the  department  provide 
that  '  no  privileged  person  can  authorize  his  clerk  or  any 
other  person  to  write  (or  stamp)  his  name  for  the  purpose 
of  franking  any  letter  or  packet/  '  The  personal  privilege 
of  franking  travels  with  the  person  possessing  it,  and  can 
be  exercised  in  but  one  place  at  the  same  time/ 

"  '  No  privileged  person  can  leave  his  frank  behind  him 
to  cover  his  correspondence  in  his  absence/  'If  letters  or 
papers  be  put  into  a  post-office  bearing  the  frank  of  a 
privileged  person  who  notoriously  has  not  been  in  that 
vicinity  for  several  days,  ...  it  is  the  duty  of  the 
postmaster  to  treat  them  as  unpaid/  l  Postmasters  are 
requested  to  report  to  the  department  all  violations  of  the 
franking  privilege/ 

"The  use  of  a  fae-simile  stamp  for  franking  letters  or 
packets  by  Senators  or  members  of  Congress  has  never 
been  authorized  or  approved  by  this  department  in  any 
way;  but,  on  the  contrary,  the  postmaster-general  has 
invariably  decided  against  the  use  of  such  stamps  when- 
ever the  question  has  been  brought  to  his  notice,  for  the 
reason,  among  others,  that  it  affords  opportunity  to  perpe- 
trate frauds  upon  the  department  and  its  revenues  to  an 
almost  unlimited  extent. 

"  From  the  foregoing  you  will  see  that  the  postmaster- 
general  cannot  with  consistency  or  propriety  comply  with 
the  request  contained  in  your  letter. 

"I  have  the  honor  to  be,  very  respectfully,  your  obe- 
dient servant.  A.  W.  RANDALL, 

"First  Assistant  Postmaster- General. 

'  1*  ?  \  United  States  Senate." 

26 


302  MAILS  ON  THE  SABBATH. 

MAILS  ON  THE  SABBATH. 

"  Remember  the  Sabbath  day,  and  keep  it  holy." 

Ever  since  the  postal  system  was  established,  an  oppo- 
sition has  been  made  to  its  operations  on  the  Sabbath. 
It  is  not  for  us  to  question  the  moral  principle  upon  which 
these  objections  were  based.  The  law  for  the  observance 
of  the  Sabbath  comes  to  us  in  language  that  cannot  be 
mistaken  and  from  a  source  not  to  be  denied.  But  we 
question  whether  it  applies  to  the  wheels  of  a  government, 
which,  in  the  same  order  as  that  of  the  spheres,  must 
move  on  for  its  maintenance. 

The  Rev.  Thomas  Scott  (whose  authority  we  annex, 
not  feeling  capable  of  giving  a  religious  view  ourselves) 
says,  speaking  upon  the  subject  of  the  Sabbath, — 

"  '  Six  days  shalt  thou  labor,  and  do  all  thy  work/  was 
merely  an  allowance,  and  not  an  injunction;  for  the  Lord 
forbade,  by  other  precepts,  all  labor  on  some  of  these  days, 
but  they  were  assigned  for  the  diligent  performance  of  the 
business  which  relates  to  this  present  life,  while  the 
seventh  was  consecrated  to  the  immediate  service  of  God. 
The  concerns  of  our  souls  must  indeed  be  attended  to, 
and  God  worshipped,  every  day,  that  our  business  may  be 
regulated  in  subserviency  to  his  will ;  but  on  the  other 
days  of  the  week  '  we  shall  do  all  our  work,'  reserving  none 
for  the  Sabbath,  except  WORKS  OF  CHARITY,  PIETY,  AND 
NECESSITY  ;  for  these  alone  consist  with  the  holiness  of  that 
sacred  day  of  rest,  and  are  allowable,  l  because  the  Sabbath 
was  made  for  man,  and  not  man  for  the  Sabbath/  All 
works,  therefore,  which  arise  from  avarice,  distrust,  lux- 
ury, vanity,  and  self-indulgence,  are  entirely  prohibited. 

"Buying  and  selling,  paying  wages,  settling  accounts, 
writing  letters  of  business,  reading  books  on  ordinary 
subjects,  trifling  visits,  journeys,  excursions,  dissipation, 
or  conversation  which  serves  only  for  amusement,  cannot 


MAILS  ON  THE  SABBATH.  303 

consist  with  ' keeping  a  day  holy  to  the  Lord;'  and  sloth 
is  a  carnal,  not  a  spiritual,  rest. 

"Servants,  and  some  others,  may,  however,  be  under  a 
real  necessity  of  doing  things  which  are  not  necessary  in 
themselves :  though  good  management  might  often  greatly 
lessen  the  evil,"  &c. 

Speaking  of  cattle,  the  learned  author  says,  "The  cattle 
must  also  be  allowed  to  rest  from  the  hard  labor  of  hus- 
bandry, journeys,  and  all  employments  connected  with 
trade  or  pleasure ;  though  doubtless  we  may  employ  them 
too  in  works  of  necessity,  piety,  and  charity ;  and  thus  they 
may  properly  be  used  for  the  gentle  service  of  conveying 
those  to  places  of  public  worship  who  could  not  otherwise 
attend  or  perform  the  duties  to  which  they  are  called." 

It  will  be  observed  that,  indirectly,  the  author  sustains 
the  argument  we  advanced  above,  that  the  wheels  of  a 
government,  like  the  works  of  creation,  must  necessarily 
move  on  "without  impediment,"  and  that  any  labor  per- 
formed on  the  Sabbath  connected  with  such  operations 
comes  under  the  head  of  "  necessity." 

Governments  are  formed  and  their  laws  based  upon 
those  of  nature:  we  imitate  and  follow  them  as  being 
essential  to  sustaining  and  perpetuating  their  stability  and 
usefulness. 

Nor  do  we  think  our  preachers  are  disposed  to  interfere 
with  the  mails  running  on  the  Sabbath ;  for  they  invariably 
are  the  most  anxious  on  a  Monday  morning  to  receive 
their  letters  and  newspapers,  which,  as  we  all  know,  are 
invariably  assorted  and  distributed  throughout  the  office 
on  the  Sabbath  for  an  early  delivery  on  Monday.  We 
allude  to  this  important  clerical  fact  because  in  several  in- 
stances they  have  threatened  to  report  clerks  for  neglecting 
their  duties  on  the  Sabbath,  simply  because  that  labor  was 
not  devoted,  as  it  would  appear,  for  their  especial  benefit ! 
This  want  of  consistency  on  the  part  of  a  portion  of  the 


304  MAILS  ON  THE  SABBATH. 

clergy  seems   more   tinctured  with  hypocrisy  than  it  is 
with  Christianity. 

Return  J.  Meigs,  the  postmaster-general  under  James 
Madison  in  1815,  in  reply  to  certain  petitions  remon- 
strating against  the  mails  running  on  the  Sabbath,  makes 
use  of  the  following  language  (we  give  extracts  only) : — 

.  .  .  "The  usage  of  transporting  the  mails  on  the  Sab- 
bath is  coeval  with  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States ; 
and  a  prohibition  of  that  usage  will  be  first  considered." 
He  then  gives  the  various  mail-routes  on  the  principal 
roads,  and  says, — 

"  If  the  mail  was  not  to  move  on  Sunday  on  the  routes 
enumerated,  it  would  be  delayed  from  three  to  four  days 
in  passing  from  one  extreme  of  th,e  route  to  the  other. 
From  Washington  to  St.  Louis  the  mail  would  be  delayed 
two  days;  from  Washington  to  New  Orleans  the  mail 
would  be  delayed  three  days;  from  New  Orleans  to 
Boston  it  would  be  delayed  from  four  to  five  days ;  and, 
generally  y  the  mails  would,  on  an  average,  be  retarded 
equal  to  one-seventh  part  of  the  time  now  employed,  if 
the  mails  do  not  move  on  the  Sabbath. 

"On  the  smaller  cross-roads  or  routes  the  transporta- 
tion of  the  mail  has  been  avoided  on  the  Sabbath,  except 
when  necessary  to  prevent  great  delays  and  to  preserve 
connections  with  different  routes." 

In  relation  to  opening  the  mails  on  the  Sabbath,  it  may 
be  noticed  that  the  ninth  section  of  the  "act  regulating 
the  post-office  establishment"  makes  it  the  duty  of  the 
postmaster  to  attend  to  the  duties  of  his  office  "every 
day"  on  which  a  mail  shall  arrive  at  his  office,  and  at  "all 
reasonable  hours"  on  every  day  of  the  week.  When  a 
mail  is  conveyed  on  the  Sabbath,  it  must  be  opened  and 
exchanged  at  the  offices  which  it  may  reach  in  the  course 
of  the  day.  This  operation  at  the  smaller  offices  occupies 
no  more  than  ten  or  twelve  minutes ;  in  some  of  the  larger 


MAILS  ON  THE  SABBATH.  305 

offices  it  occupies  one  hour;  and,  it  is  believed,  does  not 
greatly  interfere  with  religious  exercises  as  to  the  post- 
masters themselves. 

The  practice  of  "delivering  letters  and  newspapers  on 
the  Sabbath"  is  of  recent  origin,  and,  under  the  above- 
quoted  section,  commenced  in  1810.  Prior  to  that  period, 
no  postmaster  (except  the  postmaster  at  Washington  City), 
was  required  to  deliver  letters  and  newspapers  on  the 
Sabbath.  The  "reasonable  hours"  were  to  be  determined 
by  the  postmaster-general,  who  established  the  following 
regulations,  now  existing : — "At  post-offices  where  the  mail 
arrives  on  Sunday,  the  office  is  to  be  kept  open  for  the 
delivery  of  letters,  &c.  for  one  hour  after  the  arrival  and 
assorting  of  the  mail ;  but  in  case  that  would  interfere 
with  the  hours  of  public  worship,  then  the  office  is  to  be 
kept  open  for  one  hour  after  the  usual  time  of  dissolving 
the  meetings  for  that  purpose." 

Also,  if  the  mail  arrives  at  an  office  too  late  for  the 
delivery  of  letters  on  Saturday  night,  the  postmaster  is 
instructed  to  deliver  them  on  Sunday  morning,  at  such 
early  hour  as  not  to  encroach  upon  the  hours  devoted  to 
public  religious  exercises.  If  these  regulations  are  not 
strictly  attended  to,  it  must  be  imputable  to  the  urgency 
of  applicants  and  the  complaisance  of  postmasters. 

After  the  preceding  statement,  it  is  to  be  observed  that 
public  policy,  pure  morality,  and  undefiled  religion  com- 
bine in  favor  of  a  due  observance  of  the  Sabbath. 

Nevertheless,  a  nation  owes  to  itself  an  exercise  of  the 
means  adapted  to  its  own  preservation  and  for  the  con- 
tinuance of  those  very  blessings  which  flow  from  such 
observance ;  and  the  nation  must  sometimes  operate  by  a 
few  of  its  agents,  even  on  the  Sabbath ;  and  such  operation 
may,  as  in  time  of  war,  become  indispensable,  so  that 
the  many  may  enjoy  an  uninterrupted  exercise  of  religion 
in  quietude  and  safety,  In  the  present  state  of  the  nation 

26* 


306  MAILS  ON  THE  SABBATH. 

it  may  be  supposed  necessary  daily  to  convey  govern- 
mental orders,  instructions,  and  regulations,  and  to  com- 
municate and  receive  information.  If  the  daily  carriage 
of  the  mail  be  as  relates  to  the  safety  of  the  nation  a 
matter  of  necessity,  it  also  becomes  a  work  of  mercy. 

When  peace  is  fully  established,  the  necessity  will  greatly 
diminish,  and  it  will  be  at  all  times  a  pleasure  to  this 
department  to  prevent  any  profanation  of  the  Sabbath, 
as  far  as  relates  to  its  official  duty  or  its  official  authority. 

In  England  the  postal  regulations  for  the  Sabbath  are 
as  follows.  They  differ  very  little  from  our  own : — 

"During  the  time  the  office  is  open  on  Sunday  (viz. 
from  9  to  10  in  the  morning,  and  one  other  hour),  the 
public  are  allowed  to  prepay  foreign  and  colonial  letters, 
to  purchase  stamps,  and  to  have  letters  registered ;  and  all 
other  duties  are  performed  as  usual,  except  money-order 
and  savings-bank  business,*  which  on  that  day  is  wholly 
suspended." 

At  no  provincial  town  in  England  or  Ireland  is  there 
more  than  one  delivery  on  Sunday  or  the  sacramental 
fast-days ;  and  any  person  is  at  liberty  to  prevent  even 
this  delivery,  so  far  as  relates  to  himself,  as  shown  by  the 
following  regulations : — 

"  1st.  Any  person  can  have  his  letters,  &c.  retained  in 
the  post-office  on  Sunday,  by  addressing  to  the  postmaster 
a  written  request,  duly  signed,  to  that  effect;  and  such 
request  will  be  held  to  include  newspapers  and  all  other 
postal  matters,  even  such  as  may  be  marked  '  immediate/ 
as  no  distinction  is  allowed. 

"2d.  No  letters,  &c.  the  non-delivery  of  which  by  the 
letter-carrier  on  Sunday  has  been  directed  can  be  obtained 
from  the  post-office  window  on  that  day. 

*  In  connection  with  the  English  post-office  there  is  a  savings-bank, 
which  is  also  a  money-order  office.  This  bank  is  open  for  business 
during  the  same  hours  as  for  money-orders. 


DEAD-LETTERS.  307 

"3d.  Private  box-holders  have  the  option  of  applying 
for  letters  at  the  office  while  it  is  open  for  delivery  on 
Sunday,  or  of  abstaining  from  so  doing,  as  they  may 
think  proper ;  but  no  person  can  be  permitted  to  engage 
a  private  box  for  Sunday  only." 

DEAD-LETTERS. 

"And  thus  there  were  many  dead." — GOWER. 

It  would  fill  a  volume  were  we  to  attempt  any  thing 
like  a  history  of  this  department  of  the  general  post- 
office.  One  thing,  however,  would  impress  itself  forcibly 
upon  the  minds  of  our  readers,  were  we  to  furnish  such  a 
history,  and  that  would  be  to  establish  the  fact  beyond  the 
possibility  of  a  doubt  that  "  the  fools  are  not  all  dead  yet." 

As  far  as  the  employees  of  the  post-office  are  concerned, 
if  not  irreverent,  this  would  be  a  "consummation  devoutly 
to  be  wished/ 

Many  of  these  letters,  containing  important  information 
and  large  amounts  of  money,  are  so  villanously  directed 
that  a  modern  mesmeriser  would  find  himself  at  fault,  or 
a  spiritual  medium  confounded,  if  put  in  connection  with 
the  writers,  in  their  endeavor  to  arrive  at  the  mystery  of 
such  superscriptions  as  it  has  been  our  misfortune  to  en- 
counter during  our  connection  with  the  post-office.  In 
another  portion  of  this  work  we  furnish  the  reader  with 
numerous  specimens  of  such  directions.  Would  we  could 
give  specimens  of  their  chirography  also !  In  connection, 
however,  with  "dead-letters,"  we  annex  the  following  su- 
perscriptions to  letters  which  contained  money  and  drafts, 
and  of  course  found  their  way  to  the  "dead-letter  office :" — 

Miss  JEANNIE  WUTEREZ, 

Bile.  677  Auen 

N.J.  34  S.A. 

Is  it  likely  that  such  a  direction  would  carry  a  letter  to 
Miss  Jeannie  ?  or  the  following  to  its  direction  ? — 


308  DEAD-LETTERS. 

MlSS  S.   SORERIE, 

beckie  if  Hossee  if  H. 
grltne  et  persep  Yell 
oone  hundder  45 

Neither  town  nor  State,  it  will  be  perceived,  is  here  given. 
We  furnish  another : — 

To  GENITZ  DENGKENSON 
Ap.  Risen.  Coolkill  Kounty,  near  Genezene. 

A  letter  was  received  in  this  city  by  John  Smith  (we 
will  not  give  the  real  name),  containing  a  draft  for  three 
thousand  dollars.  The  letter  simply  stated,  "Enclosed 

you  will  find  a  draft  on  T D ,  Washington  City, 

for  three  thousand  dollars,  being  a  part  of  the  proceeds  of 
property  sold.  The  balance  will  be  forwarded  soon,  &c.' 
Now,  this  John  Smith  was  anxiously  awaiting  the  proceeds 
of  a  sale  of  property  in  England,  he  being  one  of  the  heirs 
expectant,  and  had  been  previously  notified  of  the  sale  in 
question.  As  a  matter  of  course,  he  imagined  this  to  be  the 
first  instalment,  coming  as  it  did  from  the  very  town  from 
which  he  expected  it.  The  letter  was  simply  directed  to 
"  John  Smith,  Catharine  Street,  South wark,  Philadelphia." 
The  carrier  on  that  route,  aware  of  Smith's  anxiety  to 
hear  about  his  property,  delivered  the  letter  as  directed, 
at  least  as  near  as  it  was  possible  without  the  number  of 
the  house.  Smith  opened  the  letter  in  presence  of  the 
carrier,  and  exclaimed,  "  It  is  all  right,  old  fellow  I"  The 
draft  was  presented,  the  money  paid,  and  Smith  went  on  his 
way  rejoicing.  By  the  time  he  had  spent  one-third  of  the 
money,  it  was  discovered  that  he  was  not  the  John  Smith. 
He  returned  the  two  thousand  dollars,  and  the  right  party 
was  willing  to  await  John  Smith  the  Second's  remittance 
for  his  thousand  dollars.  The  cause  of  this  could  alone 
be  attributed  to  the  carelessness  of  the  remitting  party  in 
not  giving  the  particulars  or  name  of  the  person  from 
whom  the  legacy  came.  The  names  of  the  expectants 


DEAD-LETTERS.  309 

being  exactly  the  same,  and  living  on  the  same  street,  no 
other  result  could  be  expected. 

The  following  report  of  Postmaster  Dennison  (1865) 
furnishes  an  epitomized  view  of  the  dead-letter  depart- 
ment : — 

"  The  number  of  dead-letters  received,  examined,  and 
disposed  of  was  4,368,087,— an  increase  of  856,262  over 
the  previous  year. 

"  The  number  containing  money  and  remailed  to  owners 
was  42,154,  with  enclosures  amounting  to  $244,373.97. 
Of  these,  35,268,  containing  $210,954.90,  were  delivered, 
leaving  6886  undelivered,  with  enclosures  to  the  value  of 
$33,419.07.  The  number  containing  sums  less  than  one 
dollar  was  16,709,  amounting  to  $4647.23,  of  which  12,698, 
containing  $3577.62,  were  delivered  to  the  writers. 

"The  number  of  registered  letters  and  packages  was 
3966. 

"The  number  of  letters  containing  checks,  bills  of  ex- 
change, deeds,  and  other  papers  of  value  was  15,304,  with 
a  nominal  value  of  $3,329,888,  of  which  13,746,  contain- 
ing $3,246,149,  were  delivered,  leaving  unclaimed  1558, 
of  the  value  of  $83,739. 

"The  number  containing  photographs,  jewelry,  and 
miscellaneous  articles  was  69,902.  Of  these,  41,600  were 
delivered,  and  28,302  remain  for  disposal,  or,  being  worth- 
less, have  been  destroyed.  The  number  of  valuable  letters 
sent  out  was  107,979, — an  increase  of  38,792  over  the 
previous  year. 

"  There  were  returned  to  public  offices,  including  franked 
letters,  28,677. 

"The  number  containing  stamps  and  articles  of  small 
value  was  8289,  and  of  unpaid  and  misdirected  letters, 
166,215. 

"  The  number  of  ordinary  dead-letters  returned  to  the 
writers  was  1,188,599,  and  the  number  not  delivered  was 


310  DEAD-LETTERS. 

297,304,  being  about  23  per  cent,  of  the  whole.  Of  those 
not  delivered,  less  than  4  per  cent,  were  refused  by  the 
writers. 

"The  number  of  foreign  letters  returned  was  167,449, 
and  the  number  received  from  foreign  countries  was 
88,361. 

"  In  the  last  report  the  attention  of  Congress  was  called 
to  the  expediency  of  restoring  prepaid  letters  to  the  owners 
free  of  postage.  The  measure  is  again  commended,  with 
the  additional  suggestion  that  letters  be  forwarded  at  the 
request  of  the  party  addressed  from  one  post-office  to 
another  without  extra  charge. 

"The  number  of  letters  conveyed  in  the  mails  during 
1865  is  estimated  at  467,591,600.  Of  these,  4,368,087 
were  returned  to  the  dead-letter-office,  including  566,097 
army  and  navy  letters,  the  non-delivery  of  which  was 
not  chargeable  to  the  postal  service,  they  having  passed 
beyond  its  control  into  the  custody  of  the  military  and 
naval  authorities.  Deducting  1,156,401  letters  returned 
to  writers  or  held  as  valuable,  the  total  number  lost  or 
destroyed  was  2,352,424,  or  one  in  every  two  hundred 
mailed  for  transmission  and  delivery.  Fully  three-fourths 
of  the  letters  returned  as  dead  fail  to  reach  the  parties 
addressed  through  faults  of  the  writers,  so  that  the  actual 
losses  from  irregularities  of  service  and  casualties,  ordinary 
and  incidental  to  the  war,  did  not  exceed  one  in  every 
eight  hundred  of  the  estimated  number  intrusted  to  the 
mails. 

"  The  returns  of  dead-letters  from  cities  are  largely  in 
excess  of  proportions  based  upon  population.  To  them 
special  efforts  have  been  directed  to  secure  the  most  efficient 
service,  and  it  is  believed  improvements  in  operation, 
chiefly  that  of  free  delivery,  will  diminish  the  number 
of  undelivered  letters  at  offices  in  densely-populated  dis- 
tricts. 


DEAD-LETTERS.  311 

"The  number  of  applications  for  missing  letters  was 
8664, — an  increase  of  3552  over  the  previous  year.  A 
misapprehension  prevails  in  regarding  the  dead-letter-office 
as  a  depository  for  the  safe  keeping  of  undelivered  letters, 
and  not  as  the  agent  for  their  final  disposal,  to  correct 
which  the  regulations  are  appended. 

"  The  amount  deposited  in  the  treasury  under  act  of  3d 
of  March  last  were : — 

On  account  of  sales  of  waste  paper $9,420  67 

Unclaimed  dead-letter  money 7,722  70 

$17,143  37 

"  Less  than  twenty-five  per  cent,  of  advertised  letters 
are  delivered.  In  some  of  the  larger  offices  the  propor- 
tion does  not  exceed  fifteen  per  cent.  The  payment  of 
two  cents  for  each  letter  advertised  involves  a  yearly  ex- 
penditure of  about  $60,000  for  letters  returned  as  dead 
to  the  department.  Measures  have  been  adopted  to  re- 
duce the  expense,  and  the  advertising  is  now  secured  at 
one-half  the  rate  allowed  by  law.  An  obstacle  to  this 
economy  is  found  in  the  law  requiring  the  list  of  letters 
to  be  published  in  newspapers  of  largest  circulation,  which 
should  be  repealed,  and  the  mode  of  advertising  left  to  the 
discretion  of  the  postmaster-general." 

We  have  stated  that  imperfect  direction  is  in  nine  cases 
out  of  ten  the  cause  of  the  miscarriage  of  letters.  We 
would  here  suggest  to  the  department  the  propriety  of 
having  competent  clerks  to  superintend  this  office,  so 
that  the  letters  returned  to  the  writers  should  not  give 
the  same  cause  of  complaint.  Many  of  the  clerks  so  em- 
ployed make  sad  havoc  of  this  portion  of  postal  literature, 
and  exercise  little  or  no  judgment  in  their  direction  of 
letters  to  the  parties  to  whom  they  are  returned,  or  at 
least  for  whom  they  are  intended.  Name  of  street  and 
number  of  house  are  alike  omitted,  and  thus  a  letter  comes 


312  DEAD-LETTERS. 

from  the  dead-letter-office  as  difficult  to  decipher  or  make 
out  as  it  was  when  sent  thither.  Haste  in  that  direction 
seems  to  be  the  chief  cause  of  this  display  of  hieroglyphical 
knowledge. 

In  the  subjoined  extracts  from  a  letter  which  appeared 
in  the  "Chicago  Journal"  (1864)  are  some  practical  hints 
to  letter- writers : — 

"I  have  just  seen  a  letter  of  three  pages,  and  not  a 
word  in  it, — the  work  of  a  poor  crazed  soldier;  not  a 
character  of  any  tongue  in  Babel,  but  only  a  little  child's 
meaningless  imitation  of  writing ;  and  in  that  letter  were 
ninety  dollars.  It  came  here ;  the  department  discovered 
the  writer,  his  regiment,  and  death.  The  money  waits. 
Letters  sometimes  have  most  interesting  histories.  Thus, 
an  officer  here  in  Washington  writing  a  letter  to  his  wife, 
who  is  in  New  York,  simply  signed  it  with  his  given 
name,  and  carelessly  subscribed  it  e  Washington/  The 
letter  came  hither;  and  now  who  and  where  was  the 
writer  ?  In  the  body  of  the  letter  was  a  chance  allusion 
to  some  brigade :  ( upon  this  hint7  the  department  played 
Othello  and  '  spake.7  The  brigade  was  inquired  after  and 
of,  was  found,  and  it  answered :  the  writer  was  a  major, 
and  was  dead.  His  wife  had  removed  from  her  old  deso- 
late home,  but  she  was  discovered,  and  the  money  placed 
in  her  hand  as  if  by  the  hand  of  the  dead. 

"Every  letter,  no  matter  what  trifles  are  in  it,  should 
begin  with  the  post-office,  State,  and  poor  terrestrial  date, 
day,  month,  and  year.  It  is  all  very  fine  to  write  from 
'  Clover  Lawn/  or  '  Willow-Tree/  or  '  Sweet  Home/  and 
date  it  i Sunday  Eve/  ' Birthday/  or  'Moonshine/  but 
suppose  the  post-mark  is  dim,  and  the  letter  gets  into  this 
marble  cemetery,  what  then  ?  And  then  as  to  the  super- 
scription. By  the  present  fashion  we  have  first  the  name, 
life-size,  and,  if  the  sex  will  possibly  allow  it,  Esquired; 


PANDORA'S  MAIL-BOX  OPENED.  313 

then  the  post-office ;  last  and  least,  and  tucked  in  a  corner 
like  a  naughty  boy,  the  State. 

"  Now,  is  not  this  reversing  the  order  of  things, — crib- 
bing the  greater  and  magnifying  the  less?  People,  I  pre- 
sume, will  not  be  persuaded  to  change  their  mode  of 
address,  letters  dead  or  alive;  but  how  would  it  do  to 
direct  a  letter  thus  ? — 

«  MASSACHUSETTS,  Boston, 

1  DR.  0.  W.  HOLMES.' 

"  The  little  traveller  would  be  sure  to  get  into  the  right 
State  at  the  first  dash,  make  straight  for  the  post-office, 
and  finding  the  funny  doctor  would  be  an  easy  business." 

The  large  number  of  letters  written  by  persons  in  the 
military  service  of  the  United  States,  whose  locality  could ' 
not  be  ascertained,  contributed  very  considerably  to  the 
increase  of  "  dead-letters."  But  the  great  proportion  of  or- 
dinary dead-letters  which  were  returned  was  decidedly  those 
of  the  careless  order.  Many  were  not  even  signed,  and 
others  so  imperfectly  directed  that  it  was  totally  impossible 
to  decipher  even  the  name  or  residence  of  the  writer.  Time 
after  time  have  postmasters  called  public  attention  to  this 
state  of  things,  and,  strange  as  the  fact  may  appear,  this 
very  timely  (as  it  was  supposed)  suggestion  had  the  con- 
trary effect :  the  number  of  ill-spelt  and  ill-directed  letters 
increased  ! 

PANDORA'S  MAIL-BOX  OPENED. 

Among  the  "  mail-matters"  which  had  accumulated  at 
the  dead-letter-office  in  Washington  since  1848,  and  which 
were  sold  to  the  highest  bidder  on  the  6th  of  December, 
1859,  were  the  following  articles: — coats,  hats,  socks, 
drawers,  gloves,  scarfs,  suspenders,  patent  inhaling-tubes, 
gold  pens,  pencils,  ladies7  slippers  half  worn,  all  kinds  of 
jewelry,  undersleeves,  fans,  handkerchiefs,  box  of  dis- 
secting-instruments,  pocket-Bibles,  religious  books,  others 

27 


314  DECOY-LETTERS. 

not  quite  so  acceptable  to  the  moral  portion  of  the  com- 
munity, shirts,  bed-quilts,  boots,  spurs,  gaffs  for  game- 
fowls,  shawls,  gaiters,  tobacco,  razors,  &c.  &c. 

ADVERTISED  LETTERS. 

Advertised  letters,  uncalled  for  and  sent  to  the  dead- 
letter-office,  cost  the  government  annually  over  $60,000 ! 
This  is  a  dead  loss,  as,  from  the  very  nature  of  the  super- 
scription and  imperfect  direction,  such  letters  have  no 
more  chance  of  reaching  their  places  of  destination  than 
a  sinner  has  of  going  to  heaven. 

.    DECOY-LETTERS. 

Devices  employed  for  the  public  good,  if  predicated  on 
the  principles  that  maintain  all  men  dishonest  and  are  them- 
selves deceptive,  both  in  theory  and  practice,  cannot  be 
considered  either  honorable  or  complimentary  to  our  public 
men.  The  system,  more  particularly  in  its  connection 
with  the  postal  department,  originated,  we  are  inclined  to 
think,  from  some  suspicious  postmaster  or  his  chief  clerk, 
and  thus  was  established  a  plan  to  test  the  employees,  alike 
unjust  and  questionable  in  equity.  It  is  said  that  these 
decoy-letters  can  never  injure  honest  men.  Are  we  to 
understand  from  this  that  men  ©f  questionable  character 
and  thieving  proclivities  are  employed  by  the  government? 
Is  it  customary  to  appoint  rogues  to  office,  and,  after  ap- 
pointing them,  lay  traps  for  their  detection  ?  If  this  is 
the  fact,  then  may  we  well  exclaim,  with  Cowley, — 

"  Man  is  to  man  all  kinds  of  beasts, — a  fawning  dog,  a 
roaring  lion,  a  thieving  fox,  a  robbing  wolf,  a  dissembling 
crocodile,  a  treacherous  decoy,  a  rapacious  vulture." 

Once  establish  the  decoy  system  as  a  general  one,  ex- 
tending it  to  all  branches  of  the  government,  trade,  and 
commerce,  introduce  it  into  stores  and  factories,  and  we 
shall  soon  have  the  flag  of  suspicion  waving  over  that  of 


DECOY-LETTERS.  315 

the  Stars  and  Stripes :  we  will  constitute  ourselves  a  nation 
of  rogues,  and  become  in  the  eyes  of  the  world  a  huge 
"DECOY  DUCK,"  instead  of  the  proud  heretofore  emblem 
of  our  country,  the  glorious  Eagle ! 

We  care  very  little  about  the  opinion  of  Judge  Betts, 
who  .on  one  occasion  maintained  the  principle  in  a  very 
learned  speech,  which  when  summed  up  amounted  simply 
to  this,  that  all  men  are  rogues  and  require  watching, — 
in  fact,  in  morals  as  well  as  honesty  they  are  lame  ducks, 
and  a  decoy  is  necessary  to  watch  their  actions.  The 
learned  judge  said, — 

"I  am  persuaded  that  letters  would  rarely  be  inter- 
cepted in  their  transmission  by  post  if  every  person  con- 
cerned in  mailing  or  carrying  them  could  be  impressed 
with  the  idea  that  each  package  enclosing  valuables  may 
be  but  a  bait  seeking  to  detect  whoever  may  be  dishonest 
enough  to  molest,  and  to  become  a  swift  witness  for  his 
conviction  and  punishment." 

If  this  is  logic,  it  lacks  one  important  principle  in 
theory  to  establish  its  practical  application,  and  that  is, 
common  sense.  We  consider  the  decoy  system,  at  least  as 
a  national  means  to  detect  rogues,  beneath  the  dignity  and 
character  of  the  nation.  Reason  and  philosophy  teach  us 
that  God  never  puts  evil  into  our  hearts,  or  stirs  it  up 
there  by  any  positive  influence.  A  man  is  tempted  by 
his  own  lust,  and  enticed  into  sin  by  the  influence,  acts, 
and  example  of  wicked  men.  "Lead  us  not  into  tempta- 
tion," is  one  of  those  wise  and  holy  lessons  which  the 
Saviour  of  the  world  instructed  his  disciples  to  pray  for, 
so  as  they  might  carry  it  out  in  their  holy  mission, 
strengthened  by  the  Divine  blessing  resting  upon  it.  Men, 
however,  are  not  unfrequently  placed  in  situations  "as 
have  a  tendency,"  says  Scott,  "to  give  our  inward  cor- 
ruptions and  the  temptations  of  Satan  and  his  agents 
peculiar  advantage  against  us." 


316  DECOY-LETTERS. 

Is  it,  therefore,  to  be  wondered  at  that  a  government 
like  ours  should  assume  a  Satanic  form,  and  employ  agents 
for  the  express  purpose  of  leading  men  into  temptation? 
We  consider  the  "  decoy-letter"  system  exactly  a  case  in 
point.  It  may  not  be  uninteresting  to  some  of  our  readers 
to  give  the  origin  of  this  ridiculous  and  equally  sinful 
manner  of  testing  men's  honesty. 

As  might  be  supposed,  it  never  could  have  originated 
in  an  enlightened  nation,  and  yet  enlightened  nations 
indorse  its  antiquity  of  folly.  We  trace  it  to  China  and 
as  far  back  as  the  dimness  of  its  history  can  carry  us.  It 
may  surprise  some  to  hear  the  term  unenlightened  applied 
to  China,  the  land  of  classic  works,  and  the  richest  and 
most  important  in  all  Asia.  Philosophers  have  made  the 
works  called  "  Kings"  the  basis  of  their  labors  in  morality 
and  politics.  History  has  always  received  the  attention 
of  the  Chinese,  and  their  annals  form  the  most  complete 
series  extant  in  any  language.  Poetry,  the  drama,  and 
romantic  prose  fictions  are  among  the  productions  of  the 
Chinese  literati, — "I/iterce  inhumaniores"  meaning  learning 
rather  of  an  inhuman  or  barbarous  tendency. 

The  Chinese  were  in  possession  of  three  of  the  most 
important  inventions  or  discoveries  of  modern  times  long 
before  they  were  known  to  the  nations  of  the  world,  besides 
which  they  were  the  inventors  of  two  remarkable  manu- 
factures,— silk  and  porcelain.  The  art  of  printing  was 
practised  at  least  as  early  as  the  tenth  century ;  but  the  use 
of  movable  types  instead  of  blocks  seems  never  to  have 
occurred  to  this  ingenious  people.  The  knowledge  of 
gunpowder  among  them  dates  at  a  very  early  period ;  but 
the  application  of  its  use  to  fire-arms  they  learned  from 
the  Europeans.  Finally,  the  peculiar  directive  properties 
of  the  loadstone  were  applied  to  purposes  of  navigation 
by  the  Chinese  several  centuries  before  they  were  employed 
in  Europe. 


DECOY-LETTERS.  317 

We  have  given  a  sketch  of  the  arts  and  sciences  of 
China,  but  it  would  be  totally  impossible  to  give  the  reader 
any  thing  like  an  idea  of  the  character  and  morals  of  its 
inhabitants.  When  China  was  first  explored  by  European 
travellers  it  was  believed  to  be  a  nation  that  had  alone 
found  out  the  true  secret  of  government,  where  the  virtues 
were  developed  by  the  operation  of  the  laws:  indeed, 
judging  from  what  they  had  read,  an  almost  perfect  people 
was  expected  to  greet  their  sight.  Alas !  how  is  history 
falsified!  Few  nations,  it  is  now  agreed,  have  so  little 
honor  or  feeling,  or  so  much  duplicity,  cunning,  and  men- 
dacity. Their  affected  gravity  is  as  far  from  wisdom  as 
their  ceremonies  are  from  politeness. 

The  government  of  China  is  one  of  fear;  and  it  has 
produced  the  usual  effects, — duplicity  and  meanness.  Sus- 
picion is  one  of  their  leading  features,  and  thus  every  man 
is  not  only  suspected  of  .being  a  rogue,  but  in  reality  every 
one  is  a  rogue.  Expert  thieving  is  considered  an  art,  yet 
if  discovered  is  punished.  The  merchants  cheat  each 
other  by  rule:  hence  it  is  not  strange  that  the  DECOY 
SYSTEM  should  have  originated  in  that  country. 

Laws  were  enacted  to  punish  those  who  laid  the  decoy, 
as  well  as  those  who  fell  into  the  trap.  These  punishments 
consisted  of  the  bastinado,  the  pillory,  banishment,  hard 
labor,  death.  These  two  first  are  almost  constantly  in  use : 
indeed,  the  merchant  who  is  bastinadoed  for  leading  his 
clerk  into  crime  by  the  "decoy  means,"  as  well  as  the 
clerk  himself,  looks  upon  it  as  a  "  paternal  correction,"  and 
thanks  the  judge  for  the  care  bestowed  upon  his  morals. 
And  yet  although  this  system  was  practised  some  three 
thousand  years  ago,  it  is  still  followed  and,  of  course,  still 
punished. 

Even  in  Jewish  history  we  have  instances  of  this  system 
being  pursued.  .  See  1  Kings  xiii. 

It  was  also  extensively  practised  .in  France  during  the 

27* 


318  DECOY-LETTERS. 

rebellion.  Mechanics  and  others  who  followed  labor  for 
maintenance  were  subjected  to  these  "decoys/'  which  pre- 
sented themselves  in  various  shapes.  An  old  lady  residing 
in  this  city  told  the  author  that  her  husband  found  a 
doubloon  on  his  work-table,  placed  there  by  a  nobleman 
in  whose  house  he  was  fitting  up  tapestry.  Indignant  at 
the  insult  offered  a  Frenchman  and  a  citizen,  he  nailed 
the  coin  to  the  table,  from  which  not  without  great  diffi- 
culty the  tempter  could  remove  it. 

Is  it,  we  ask,  consistent  with  our  form  of  government 
and  the  national  character  of  the  people  that  this  relic  of 
barbarism,  like  that  of  slavery,  should  be  permitted  to 
exist  or  be  practised  by  its  chief  officers? 

Detectives  only  should  adopt  the  system  to  aid  them  in 
their  search  for  a  criminal,  but  an  agent  detective  has  no 
right  to  set  a  decoy  to  test  the  honesty  of  men  upon  whom, 
even  before  and  after  his  appointment,  no  suspicion  rested. 
We  again  pronounce  it  mean  and  contemptible. 


SPECIAL  AGENTS.  319 


XIII. 


"  The  special  agents  are  the  eyes  and  hands  of  the  department  to  detect 
and  arrest  violators  of  the  law,  and  to  render  the  mails  a  safe  and  rapid 
means  of  communication.  In  their  selection  I  have  endeavored  to  secure  the 
qualities  of  integrity,  sagacity,  and  efficiency."  —  Report  of  Postmaster-General 
Montgomery  Blair,  June  30,  1861. 

IN  England  "  special  agents"  are  considered  among  the 
most  important  adjuncts  of  the  post-office  department. 
In  this  country  they  are  equally  important,  and  hold  the 
most  responsible  positions  in  the  general  arrangement  and 
organization  of  its  managerial  system. 

It  was  under  the  administration  of  Amos  Kendall, 
whose  devotion  to  the  interests  of  the  office  forms  one  of 
the  most  interesting  features  of  our  postal  history,  that 
the  special-agent  system  was  introduced.  As  Mr.  Blair 
observes,  in  the  passage  quoted  above,  "special  agents  are 
selected  for  their  integrity,  sagacity,  and  efficiency:"  it 
required  more  than  mere  political  influence  for  an  applicant 
to  obtain  an  appointment,  simply  from  the  fact  that  party 
studies  its  own  interest  first  and  leaves  the  consequence  of 
its  intrigues  to  time  and  opportunity.  But  the  postal 
department,  aware  of  the  sort  of  material  which  generally 
makes  up  the  political  elements  of  party,  very  wisely  made 
the  selection  of  special  agents  a  matter  of  more  serious 
consideration.  And  yet  we  are  fearful  that  even  this  de- 
partment will,  if  it  has  not  already,  become  one  of  the 
links  which  bind  and  connect  it  with  the  spirit  of  party 
and  to  the  chain  of  its  political  power.  As  far,  however, 
as  we  are  able  to  judge  of  the  character  of  those  who  now 
fill  these  offices,  the  upas  power  of  party  has  not  been 


320  SPECIAL  AGENTS. 

exercised  to  any  great  extent  in  procuring  their  appoint- 
ments. We  do  not  imply  that  from  the  political  ranks 
there  cannot  be  found  men  in  every  respect  calculated  to 
fulfil  any  office  in  the  postal  department,  but  we  do  mean 
to  say  that  in  numerous  cases  men  are  selected  not  for 
their  ability  to  perform  the  duties  intrusted  to  them,  but 
for  a  blustering,  roystering  reputation  they  had  gained  in 
their  respective  wards.  Every  failure  in  our  state  depart- 
ment, the  want  of  energy,  the  lack  of  intelligence,  the 
confusion  attendant  on  improper  amusements,  can  inva- 
riably be  traced  to  these  improper  political  appointments. 

Special  agents,  apart  from  those  qualities  alluded  to  by 
Mr.  Blair,  should  be  men  of  intelligence  and  character, 
and  possess  an  intuitive  knowledge  of  physiognomy,  phre- 
nology, philosophy,  or  the  ancient  Moshical,  or,  rather, 
the  Mosaical,  so  as  to  be  able  at  a  glance  to  read  men 
and  become  acquainted  with  their  "inward  dispositions 
and  with  the  faculties  of  their  souls,"  and  be  enabled  to 
say,  with  Mr.  Evelyn,  who  studied  the  science,  "  that  man 
is  all  dissimulation."  But  we  contend  that  there  are  men 
who,  having  made  the  subject  of  detection  a  study,  not  by 
examining  the  features  or  watching  the  actions  of  others, 
but  by  analytical  observations,  are  alone  capable  of  ful- 
filling these  positions. 

The  system  of  ferreting  out  losses,  or,  rather,  its  pro- 
cess, is  a  science,  and  one  that  to  succeed  must  be  closely 
studied. 

Science  is  knowledge,  art,  power,  and  skill  in  the  use  of 
such  knowledge:  if  it  be  directed  to  one  particular  object, 
exercising  caution  in  such  connection,  the  result  will  in- 
evitably be  favorable. 

The  duties  of  a  special  agent  are  such  that  these  quali- 
fications are  essential  to  success.  And  we  may  say  that  in 
the  selection  of  men — men  who  now  hold  these  positions 
—the  postal  department  has  not  been  governed  by  petty 


SPECIAL  AGENTS.  321 

political  influence,  but  on  the  principle  involved  in  our 
popular  maxim,  "  The  right  man  in  the  right  place" 

The  duties  of  a  special  agent  are,  in  a  measure,  "  secrets 
of  the  office,"  and  his  movements  are  generally  so  quiet 
that  few  persons  in  and  out  of  the  office  have  the  least 
idea  what  those  duties  are :  hence  the  mystery  in  which 
all  his  operations  seem  involved.  Perhaps  it  would  not 
be  proper,  or,  at  least,  so  far  as  the  interest  of  the  depart- 
ment is  concerned,  for  us  to  explain  the  exact  position 
these  special  agents  hold.  They  have  a  wide  range  of 
duties,  which,  however,  it  is  not  necessary  to  particularize 
and,  as  stated,  explain,  except  so  far  as  either  of  them  may 
have  a  bearing  upon  the  object  of  this  work.  All  losses 
of  valuable  letters  or  depredations  on  the  mails  are  sub- 
mitted to  them  for  investigation.  The  particular  means 
to  be  used  in  discovering  the  exact  locality  of  a  theft  from 
the  mails  or  in  ferreting  out  and  arresting  the  perpe- 
trators, are  left  entirely  to  their  intelligence,  vigilance,  and 
ingenuity.  It  is  natural  that  a  special  agent  should  be- 
come reserved,  unobtrusive,  quiet  in  all  his  actions,  no 
hurry  or  bustle,  ever  cautious,  so  that  he  may  be  enabled 
to  make  discoveries  without  leading  to  suspicion  and 
alarming  the  guilty.  Indeed,  such  an  eifect  on  a  man's 
natural  temperament  would  be  the  consequence  of  his 
peculiar  business.  His  means,  however,  depend  upon  his 
observation :  he  first  learns  the  amount  of  loss,  the  nature 
of  the  theft,  the  character  of  the  money,  and  the  line  of 
postal  communications  between  the  sender  and  the  expect- 
ant recipient.  These  are  his  ground-works,  upon  which 
he  erects  his  superstructure,  theoretical  and  practical,  for 
the  detection  of  the  criminal. 

Were  we  to  give  our  readers  some  account  of  these  dis- 
covered thefts,  romance  would  lose  half  its  charms  of 
enchantment,  truth  being  more  powerful  and  impressive 
than  fiction.  To  do  this  would  be  to  betray  the  secrets  of 


322  SPECIAL  AGENTS. 

the  office  and  to  stimulate  the  rogues  to  form  new  plans 
of  avoiding  detection,  as  well  as  in  their  system  of  thieving. 
These  agents,  as  we  have  observed,  keep  themselves 
aloof  from  the  general  business  of  the  office,  and  not  un- 
frequently  mystify  those  with  whom  they  occasionally 
come  in  contact.  They  are  not  the  tempters  of  the  clerks 
by  meaningly  employing  the  decoy-letter  practice,  but  the 
silent  workers  of  justice  in  pursuit  of  the  guilty:  hence 
the  honest  employees  of  the  office  can  boldly  say  with 
Macbeth, — 

"Thou  canst  not  say  I  did  it;  never  shake 
Thy  gory  locks  at  me." 

or  with  Hamlet, — 

"Let  the  galled  jade  wince, 
Our  withers  are  unwrung." 

WHAT  IS  EEQUIRED  OF  A  SPECIAL  AGENT. 

1.  He  should  have  a  thorough  knowledge  of  the  laws 
and  regulations  of  the  department. 

2.  Apart  from  his  special  duties,  he  is  to  report  and 
make  known  to  the  department  any  unnecessary  expendi- 
ture on  the  part  of  those  who  have  control  of  the  mails, 
and  at  the  same  time  report  where  there  is  any  deficiency 
of  agents,  &c. 

3.  He  is  intrusted  with  keys  to  the  several  mail-locks 
in  use,  and  is,  by  virtue  of  his  commission,  authorized  to 
open  and  examine  the  mails  whenever  and  wherever. 

4.  He  is  also  empowered  to  enter  and  examine  any  post- 
office  which,  in  his  judgment,  may  lead  to  the  success  of 
his  investigations. 

5.  He  should,  when  travelling,  attract  as  little  attention 
as  possible,  and  conceal  his  official  character  from  obser- 
vation as  much  as  possible. 


SPECIAL  AGENTS.  323 

6.  He  jnust  make  himself  acquainted  with  mail-routes, 
and  their  connection  with  the  office  of  a  special  agent. 

It  is  not  possible  for  the  department  to  instruct  an 
agent  in  the  particular  means  to  be  employed  in  discover- 
ing the  exact  locality  of  an  ascertained  robbery  of  the 
mail,  or  in  ferreting  out  and  arresting  the  perpetrators. 
These  must  be  as  variou,s  as  the  circumstances  which  sur- 
round each  case,  and  he  must  exercise  his  own  ingenuity 
and  acuteness  to  effect  his  purpose. 

We  have,  probably,  furnished  our  readers  with  sufficient 
information  upon  this  peculiar  branch  of  the  postal  de- 
partment. A  writer  speaking  upon  this  subject  says, — 

"From  the  nature  of  their  employment,  special  agents 
are  constantly  brought  in  contact  with  the  most  intelligent 
and  prominent  men  in  the  community,  who  justly  expect 
to  find  the  post-office  department  represented  by  men  of 
gentlemanly  bearing,  fair  education,  correct  deportment, 
and  sound  discretion.  The  absence  of  any  of  these  quali- 
ties, especially  of  all  of  them,  would  lower  the  standing 
of  the  department  with  those  whose  good  opinion  is  most 
valuable,  and  would  naturally  cause  speculations  on  the 
reasons  why  persons  so  deficient  in  the  qualities  necessary 
to  make  them  acceptable  to  people  of  discernment  should 
have  been  appointed  to  such  a  responsible  post/' 

SPECIAL  AGENT  OF  THE  LETTER-CARRIERS' 
DEPARTMENT. 

Since  the  introduction  of  the  free-delivery  letter  system 
the  position  of  a  carrier  has  become  one  of  considerable  im- 
portance, from  the  fact  of  his  duties  being  not  only 
doubled,  but  the  amount  of  responsibility  considerably 
increased.  At  first  there  was  considerable  opposition  in 
some  places  to  having  carriers  at  all ;  and  even  in  large 
cities  postmasters  opposed  it,  as  a  general  thing.  Mr.  C. 
A.  Walborn,  postmaster  of  Philadelphia,  was  among  the 


324  SPECIAL  AGENTS. 

first  to  favor  the  abolishing  the  one-cent  system,  and  the 
making  four  trips  a  day,  instead  of  two,  as  heretofore. 
It  is  true,  this  added  materially  to  the  labor  of  a  carrier, 
but  by  lessening  the  routes  it  was  soon  found  as  practi- 
cable as  it  was  beneficial  to  the  community.  Perhaps  no 
city  in  the  Union  can  boast  of  a  better- organized  system 
of  the  carriers'  department  than  that  of  Philadelphia. 
Gradually,  as  merchants  became  aware  of  the  facilities  it 
afforded  them,  and  the  energetic  movements  and  attention 
shown  by  the  carriers  to  their  interest,  and  of  letters 
being  delivered  free  of  charge,  they  hailed  the  system  as 
an  important  era  in  the  postal  department.  In'  all  large 
cities  and  populous  towns  the  system  became  general,  and 
four  deliveries  of  a  letter  a  day  added  materially  to  the 
confidence  it  had  inspired. 

In  view  of  the  importance  attached  to  this  department, 
Postmaster-General  Montgomery  Blair  appointed  Joseph 
W.  Briggs,  Esq.,  of  Cleveland,  Ohio,  "special  agent"  to 
superintend  the  operations  of  the  letter-carriers7  depart- 
ment throughout  the  United  States.  Mr.  Briggs  in  every 
respect  was  qualified  for  the  position.  His  acquaintance 
with  postal  matters,  and  the  interest  he  took  in  the 
general  delivery  of  letters,  well  qualified  him  to  undertake 
the  important  duty.  We  met  Mr.  Briggs  in  the  Phila- 
delphia post-office,  September,  1865,  while  on  his  postal 
tour ;  and  it  afforded  us  an  opportunity  of  exchanging 
opinions  upon  the  subject  of  the  carriers'  system,  in  which 
he  expressed  himself  in  terms  of  one  who  had  studied  it 
with  an  eye  to  the  interest  both  of  the  carriers  and  that 
of  the  department. 

Apart  from  his  special  duties  in  large  cities,  he  was 
authorized  by  the  department  to  establish  the  system  in 
all  places  requiring  it :  hence  in  a  short  time  the  having 
letters  brought  to  our  very  doors,  even  in  the  rural  dis- 
tricts, will  become  general. 


SPECIAL  AGENTS.  325 

Mr.  Briggs  goes  into  the  philosophy  of  the  subject  :  he 
calculates  first  the  amount  of  labor  a  carrier  has  to  per- 
form in  the  office  ;  secondly,  the  amount  of  physical  labor 
required  in  the  performance  of  his  duty  as  a  carrier  of 
letters.  Thus  the  mental  and  physical  are  .  properly  in- 
quired into,  and  their  respective  duties  classified.  The 
result  of  the  latter,  as  calculated  by  Mr.  Briggs,  is  as 
follows  :  —  One  hundred  and  twenty-eight  carriers  of  the 
Philadelphia  office  travel  daily  2652  miles,  —  being  an 
average  of  over  twenty-two  miles  per  day  each  man. 
This  is  no  sinecure  ! 

Apart  from  this  statement,  the  author  of  this  work 
called  the  attention  of  the  agent  to  an  additional  item  in 
this  calculation  ;  and  that  was  the  travelling  up  several 
pair  of  stairs,  passing  through  long  corridors  and  galleries 
of  large  public  and  other  buildings,  to  deliver  letters  to  the 
several  occupants,  would  make  up  an  additional  mile  or  two 
to  the  above  statistic  of  figures.  Perhaps  one  good  result 
will  arise  from  the  report  which  Mr.  Briggs  has  made  to 
the  department  ;  and  that  will  be  to  increase  the  number 
of  carriers,  and  add  some  twenty-five  per  cent,  to  their 
salaries. 

A  LEAF  FROM  A  SPECIAL  AGENTS  NOTE-BOOK. 

In  the  months  of  April  and  May,  1861,  a  large  num- 
ber of  registered  letters  from  points  in  the  State  of  New 
York,  passing  through  the  New  York  and  Philadelphia 
offices  to  Egg  Harbor  City  and  other  places  in  that  sec- 
tion of  New  Jersey,  failed  to  reach  their  destination. 
Before  Mr.  C.  A.  Walborn  took  charge  of  the  office  at 
Philadelphia,  the  attention  of  special  agent  Mr.  S.  B.  Row 
had  been  drawn  to  these  losses  by  the  late  lamented  Mr. 
James  Holbrook,  who  was  the  oldest  special  agent  in  the 
employ  of  the  post-office  department.  In  June,  Mr. 
Row  went  to  New  York  City,  and  had  a  consultation  with 

28 


OF  THE 
UMIVPDQITV 


32G  SPECIAL  AGENTS. 

Mr.  Holbrook ;  and,  although  they  differed  in  opinion  as 
to  the  precise  locality  where  the  trouble  probably  existed, 
it  was  determined  to  put  through  some  decoy-letters.  One 
of  these  letters  "  turned  up  missing,"  but,  for  reasons  not 
necessary  to  repeat  here,  nothing  was  said  about  it  then, 
but  Mr.  Row  was  perfectly  satisfied  that  the  abstraction 
of  letters  took  place  in  the  Philadelphia  post-office ;  and, 
after  an  interview  with  one  of  the  clerks  whom  he  had 
taken  into  his  confidence,  suspicions  were  directed  to 
Franklin  M.  Reed.  Reed  was  an  old  post-office  clerk, 
who,  with  an  intermission  of  perhaps  twelve  months,  had 
been  in  the  office  for  twenty  odd  years.  Efforts  were  fre- 
quently made  to  "  trap"  Reed,  but  none  of  them  succeeded, 
until,  on  the  evening  of  the  8th  of  August,  a  "  decoy"  was 
jointly  prepared  by  Mr.  Row  and  Mr.  William  M.  Ire- 
land, the  present  chief  clerk  (1865)  of  the  Philadelphia 
post-office. 

This  decoy  had  all  the  appearance  of  a  regular  regis- 
tered letter  from  New  York,  and  was  addressed  to  an 
imaginary  Mrs.  Green,  at  Atlantic  City,  from  her  devoted 
husband,  who  enclosed  her  two  dollars  to  relieve  her 
present  wants,  and  promising  to  visit  her  at  the  end  of  the 
week.  This  letter  was,  at  a  favorable  moment,  slipped 
into  the  New  York  package,  which  Reed  was  then  about 
"  casing  up."  Next  morning  Mr.  Ireland  examined  the 
Atlantic  City  mail,  and  found  that  the  letter  for  the 
imaginary  Mrs.  Green  was  missing.  At  7  A.M.  Mr.  Reed 
quit  work.  A  short  time  previous,  Mr.  Row  had  seen 
Mr.  Ireland,  who  was  acting  under  the  instructions  of  the 
former,  and,  on  learning  the  condition  of  affairs,  it  was 
determined  to  wait  for  Mr.  Reed  at  the  corner  of  Third 
and  Carter's  Streets,  when  he  should  make  his  appearance 
there  on  leaving  the  office.  Soon  Reed  came  out,  when 
he  was  accosted  by  the  special  agent,  who  informed  him 
that  he  required  about  five  minutes  of  his  time  in  the 


THE  YOUTHFUL  MAIL-ROBBER.  327 

postmaster's  private  room.  On  his  way  there,  Reed  drew 
out  his  watch  several  times ;  but  he  was  too  closely  watched 
to  admit  of  his  dropping  any  thing  on  his  way  back.  On 
entering  the  room,  Mr.  Row  told  him  that  a  certain  letter 
was  missing,  and  that,  as  it  had  last  been  in  his  hands, 
it  became  his  painful  duty  to  search  him.  Reed  quietly 
submitted;  and  in  his  watch-fob  was  found  the  money 
which  had  been  enclosed  in  the  Green  letter. 

Reed  was  taken  before  United  States  Commissioner 
Hazlitt,  and,  after  a  hearing,  was  committed  to  prison  in 
default  of  $3000  bail.  On  the  20th  of  August  the  United 
States  District  Court  convened,  and  the  grand  jury  found 
a  true  bill  on  the  indictment.  On  the  27th  Reed  was 
tried,  and  the  jury  rendered  a  verdict  of  "guilty."  Reed 
was  sentenced  to  ten  years'  imprisonment  in  the  Eastern 
Penitentiary  of  Pennsylvania. 

THE  YOUTHFUL  MAIL-ROBBER. 

Some  time  in  the  year  1860,  a  man  by  the  name  of 
Pardon  Barrett  made  his  appearance  at  Jackson  Corners, 
Susquehanna  county,  Pennsylvania.  He  was  a  shoemaker 
by  trade,  and  opened  a  shop  for  business.  He  had  no 
family,  kept  bachelor's  hall,  and  associated  very  little 
with  men,  simply  confining  himself  to  business  relations 
with  them.  He,  however,  seemed  to  take  pleasure  in  the 
company  of  boys,  and,  by  insinuating  himself  into  their 
good  graces,  soon  succeeded  in  making  his  domicile  a  sort 
of  rendezvous,  or  place  of  meeting,  for  a  select  few,  upon 
whom  he  seemed  to  have  some  special  design.  In  the 
winter  of  1862-63,  Barrett's  shop  became  a  sort  of  pleasure- 
place  for  these  youngsters, — pleasure  to  eat  oyster-suppers, 
play  cards  and  dice,  until  he  obtained  an  influence  over 
them  that  their  parents  could  never  have  obtained  either 
for  good  or  evil. 

Were  we  writing  an  essay  on  juvenile  depravity,  one 


328  THE  YOUTHFUL  MAIL-ROBBER. 

of  the  strongest  arguments  used  would  be  that  of  parents 
losing  sight  of  the  vacant  hours  of  their  children.  Asso- 
ciations formed  at  these  times  have  not  unfrequently  laid 
the  foundation  of  their  ruin.  This  will  be  illustrated  as 
we  proceed. 

Among  the  lads  who  visited  Barrett  was  Henry  W. 
Fletcher,  a  bright,  intelligent  boy  of  thirteen  years :  he 
was  the  son  of  the  village  postmaster.  Barrett  seemed  to 
have  a  more  than  ordinary  fondness  for  this  boy, — associated 
and  talked  with  him  wherever  and  whenever  he  met  him. 
It  was  for  the  purpose  of  cementing  this  friendship  still 
closer,  and  strengthening  the  influence  he  was  gradually 
obtaining  over  him,  that  the  oyster-suppers  and  card- 
playing  were  inaugurated.  No  one  would  have  taken 
such  pains  with  young  Fletcher,  mastering  his  timidity, 
establishing  a  friendship,  and  ministering  to  his  youthful 
pleasures,  if  he  had  not  something  in  view, — some  pur- 
pose, some  object.  Those  who  have  read  Oliver  Twist 
cannot  have  forgotten  the  character  of  "Old  Fagin,"  and 
how  he  gathered  around  him  a  number  of  boys  and  taught 
them  the  art  and  mystery  of  stealing.  Barrett,  no  doubt, 
had  read  Oliver  Twist,  and,  as  we  shall  see,  imitated  his 
plan  and  followed  his  example  in  preparing  boys  for  the 
gallows. 

On  the  occasion  of  one  of  the  oyster-parties,  Barrett 
suggested  to  young  Fletcher  that,  as  our  soldiers  were 
sending  money  home,  he  might,  if  he  were  sharp,  get 
some  of  it.  Fletcher  started :  he  could  not  at  first  com- 
prehend how,  honestly,  he  could  hold  the  soldiers'  money. 
"Easy  enough,"  remarked  Barrett;  "by  taking  the  letters 
out  of  the  post-office."  An  associate  of  Barrett's,  and 
perhaps  the  only  one  he  had,  was  present.  For  reasons 
not  necessary  to  give  here,  we  conceal  his  name.  This 
man  urged  the  boy  also  to  commit  this  serious  offence  of 
robbing  the  post-office,  but  stated,  as  if  he  possessed  the 


THE  YOUTHFUL  MAILROBBER.  329 

power,  "  that  he  would  see  him  out  of  the  scrape  if  he  was 
detected."  The  imagination  of  the  boy  was  excited  by 
the  programme  laid  out  by  these  villains, — how  they  would 
take  him  with  them  to  Buffalo,  then  across  the  lake  into 
Canada,  "where,"  as  Barrett  remarked,  "nobody  could 
find  them."  Then  they  would  proceed  to  the  Western 
States,  seek  a  wild,  retired  place  in  the  forest,  build  a 
hut,  and  pass  their  time  in  hunting,  fishing,  and  other 
wild-wood  sports.  To  a  lad  naturally  sprightly,  romantic, 
and  possessing  more  than  ordinary  intelligence,  such  a 
prospect  was  quite  fascinating.  All  arch-villains,  when- 
ever they  want  tools  to  work  with,  invariably  excite  the 
imagination,  which  oversteps  the  bounds  of  discretion,  and 
carries  the  victim  on  to  his  ruin.  When  Aaron  Burr 
planned  his  great  scheme  of  revolutionizing  the  South, 
and,  no  doubt,  with  an  eye  to  the  subjugation  of  the  North, 
he  selected  out  a  wild  enthusiast,  one  Herman  Blenner- 
hassett,  for  a  sort  of  leader.  '  Blennerhassett  was  an  adven- 
turer, romantic  and  chivalric :  he  lived  on  an  island  of 
the  Ohio  River,  still  retaining  his  name.  Here  he  built 
a  splendid  mansion,  and  possessing,  it  is  said,  great  wealth, 
he  expended  vast  sums  of  money  in  decorating  both  the 
mansion  and  the  island.  The  ruins  of  the  former  are  still 
to  be  seen.*  Like  the  man  Barrett,  Aaron  Burr  and 
Blennerhassett  enticed  to  their  island  a  number  of  young 
men,  whose  imaginations  became  excited  by  the  descriptive 
scenes  given  them  by  these  arch-traitors  of  Mexico  and 
the  South, — gardens  of  beauty  and  Golconda's  of  wealth. 
High  commissions  were  promised  them ;  but  the  bubble 
burst,  their  plans  were  detected,  the  parties  arrested  and 
tried  for  high  treason. 

Barrett  pictured  to  young  Fletcher  the  wild  sports  of 

*  The  island  is  situated  in  the  Ohio  River,  one  hundred  and  eighty- 
eight  miles  below  Pittsburg,  and  two  and  a  half  miles  from  the  beautiful 

little  town  of  Parkersburg. 

28* 


330  THE  YOUTHFUL  MAIL-ROBBER. 

the  far  West,  and  how  they  would  enjoy  themselves  when 
once  settled  in  some  vast  wilderness.  Three  months,  how- 
ever, elapsed  before  young  Fletcher  consented,  and  it  was 
in  the  early  part  of  May,  while  his  father,  the  postmaster, 
was  absent  at  New  York,  that  he  commenced  operations. 
The  first  step  he  made  in  his  career  of  crime  yielded 
twenty  dollars.  When  this  was  shown  to  Barrett,  he  re- 
marked, with  a  friendly  smile,  "Good!  you  have  made  a 
fine  beginning ;  keep  it  going,  and  the  wild- wood  sports 
will  soon  be  our  pastime." 

Fletcher,  now  that  his  hand  was  in,  did  keep  it  going, 
and  in  three  weeks  the  fund  was  increased  to  two  hundred 
and  twenty-five  dollars.  Barrett  had  given  him  certain 
instructions,  which  he  strictly  followed :  these  were,  not 
to  take  more  than  one  package  of  letters  at  a  time,  and 
then  only  such  as  were  passing  through  the  office;  nor 
was  he  to  take  any  belonging  to  the  Jackson  office ;  also, 
he  was  to  take  no  letters  unless  they  had  Washington 
City  post-mark  on  them.  The  understanding  between 
them  was  that  Fletcher  was  to  retain  all  the  money  until 
their  final  departure;  then  it  was  to  be  divided  among 
them,  or  a  treasurer  appointed  until  they  reached  their 
wild-wood  destination.  Fletcher  kept  the  money  hid 
away,  as  Barrett  told  him  it  was  dangerous  to  carry  it 
about  him.  On  several  occasions,  however,  he  tried  to 
get  money  out  of  Fletcher,  but  the  latter  invariably  re- 
fused to  advance  a  cent,  holding  the  former  to  the  bond, 
which  was  not  to  use  any  of  the  money  until  their  general 
meeting  previous  to  their  departure  West.  It  seems,  how- 
ever, that  about  this  time  the  losses  were  being  looked 
to  by  the  post-office  department,  and,  for  reasons  which 
are  foreign  to  the  matter  in  hand,  young  Fletcher  ex- 
hibited a  more  liberal  spirit  to  a  boy  named  Brownson 
than  he  did  to  Barrett,  by  furnishing  him  with  forty 
dollars  to  enable  him  to  run  away  from  home.  It  was 


THE  YOUTHFUL  MAIL-ROBBER.  331 

not  a  very  difficult  matter  on  the  part  of  the  department 
to  trace  the  robbery  as  soon  as  the  money  from  letters  was 
missing.  Once  on  the  railroad  of  suspicion,  the  detective 
soon  reached  the  depot, — the  scene  of  theft. 

The  boy  Fletcher  was  at  first  supposed  to  be  the  only 
person  concerned  in  the  affair;  but  the  investigation  de- 
veloped the  facts  above  stated,  and  Barrett,  who  had  sud- 
denly left  for  New  York,  was  arrested  at  Genesee  on  the 
9th  of  June.  On  the  16th  he  was  taken  to  Williamsport, 
Pennsylvania,  where  the  United  States  District  Court  was 
held;  on  the  17th  he  was  put  on  trial ;  on  the  18th  found 
guilty ;  and  on  the  20th  he  was  lodged  in  the  Western 
Penitentiary  at  Alleghany  City,  Pennsylvania,  the  court 
having  sentenced  him  to  three  years'  imprisonment.  Bar- 
rett's age  was  fifty-six,  which  influenced  the  court  in 
shortening  the  term  of  imprisonment. 

The  principal  witness  against  Barrett  was  young  Fletcher. 
A  large  number  of  letters  was  found  at  a  place  designated 
by  him.  One  hundred  and  sixty  dollars  and  other  mail- 
able  matter  were  found  where  he  said  they  were  concealed. 
The  most  important  item  of  testimony,  however,  was  that 
which  related  to  a  silver  half-dollar,  which  Fletcher  al- 
leged he  had  taken  out  of  a  letter,  and  which  he  had  sold 
to  Barrett  for  sixty  cents  in  currency.  It  was  ascertained 
that  a  drafted  man,  on  leaving  for  the  army,  had  taken 
inadvertently  with  him  a  half-dollar  belonging  to  his  little 
son.  At  the  time  the  tampering  was  going  on  with  letters 
at  the  post-office,  he  had  enclosed  a  half-dollar  in  a  letter 
to  his  wife  to  replace  the  one  he  had  taken  away  with  him. 
This  letter  had  to  pass  through  the  Jackson  office,  but  it 
never  reached  its  destination.  Doubtless  this  was  the  one 
out  of  which  Fletcher  got  the  half-dollar  sold  to  Barrett. 
It  is  a  curious  fact  in  the  history  of  criminals  that  their 
detection,  in  nine  cases  out  of  ten,  is  caused  by  some  very 


332  THE  DISHONEST  MERCHANT. 

trifling  incident  connected  with  the  operations.  So  it  was 
in  this  case. 

The  126th  section  of  the  act  of  Congress  of  March  3, 
1825,  makes  the  opening,  embezzling,  or  destroying  of 
mail-letters  or  packages  containing  articles  of  value  an 
offence  punishable  with  imprisonment  not  less  than  two, 
nor  more  than  ten,  years.  The  129th  section  of  the  same 
act  provides  "That  every  person  who,  from  and  after  the 
passage  of  this  act,  shall  procure  and  advise,  or  assist,  in 
the  doing  or  perpetration  of  any  of  the  acts  or  crimes  by 
this  act  forbidden,  shall  be  subject  to  the  same  penalties 
and  punishments  as  the  persons  are  subject  to  who  shall 
actually  do  or  perpetrate  any  of  the  said  acts  or  crimes, 
according  to  the  provisions  of  this  act."  It  was  under 
this  clause  Barrett  was  convicted,  and  it  is,  perhaps,  the 
only  case  of  the  kind  on  record. 

This  interesting  case — and  were  all  the  details  given  it 
would  prove  highly  so — came  under  the  official  manage- 
ment of  S.  B.  Row,  Esq.,  special  agent  of  the  post-office 
department  for  the  State  of  Pennsylvania.  The  moment 
the  first  intimation  was  received  of  the  mails  being  tam- 
pered with,  hp  fixed  upon  his  starting-point,  and,  with  a 
sure  eye  to  the  end,  he  pursued  his  course  until  he  arrived 
at  Jackson,  and  by  a  little  stratagem  the  whole  plot  was 
discovered.  He  traced  it  from  the  first  step  young  Fletcher 
made  into  crime,  after  receiving  his  lesson  from  Barrett, 
up  to  the  loss  of  the  silver  half-dollar.  The  case,  if  fairly 
written  out,  with  all  the  details,  would  make  an  invaluable 
paper  for  some  Sunday-school  tract-publishing  institution. 
It  is,  indeed,  a  lesson  for  youth. 

THE  DISHONEST  MERCHANT. 

Crime  in  high  places  has  of  late  become  fashionable; 
law  itself  has  become  aristocratic,  and  maintains  its  cha- 
racter for  partiality  by  shielding  aristocratical  rascals 


THE  DISHONEST  MERCHANT.  333 

beneath  its  wings.  Justice  is  no  longer  blind, — at  least, 
one  of  its  eyes  is  open, — and  the  distinguishing  marks  on  a 
greenback,  denoting  its  value,  are  readily  discerned  by  the 
goddess.  The  poor  wretch  who  steals  a  loaf  of  bread  to 
save  his  children  from  starvation  invariably  gets  on  the 
blind  side  of  Justice,  and,  of  course,  the  sense  of  hearing, 
and  not  of  seeing,  is  exercised  in  his  case.  Bacon,  in  his 
Essay  of  Judicature,  says,  "The  place  of  justice  is  an  hal- 
lowed place,  and,  therefore,  not  only  the  bench,  but  the 
foot-pace,  and  precincts,  and  purprise  thereof,  ought  to  be 
preserved  without  scandal  and  corruption/7  The  fate  of 
the  bread-snatcher  is  an  evidence  that  the  precincts  of 
justice  and  the  foot-pace  to  its  throne  must  be  paved  with 
gold,  or  his  chance,  or  that  of  any  other  poor  man,  from 
escape  is  totally  impossible.  The  man  who  steals  a  loaf 
of  bread  commits  a  crime:  he  should  be  punished:  so 
should  the  man  who  swindles  the  government,  robs  the 
widow,  commits  forgery,  nay,  even  murder,  but  whose 
wealth  paves  the  way  for  his  acquittal.  (See  records  of 
our  courts.) 

In  the  following  case  it  will  be  observed  that  the  postal 
department,  having  some  knowledge  of  the  manner  busi- 
ness is  conducted  in  our  courts,  took  the  matter  into  its 
own  hand,  the  chief  clerk  acting  as  detective,  judge,  and 
jury,  and  who  settled  the  case  in  a  manner,  without 
loss  of  time  or  money,  highly  satisfactory  to  all,  save  the 
guilty  party,  who,  shortly  after  the  scene  we  are  about  to 
describe,  was  compelled  to  quit  the  city  and  left  for  parts 
unknown. 

The  gentleman  (?)  who  is  the  hero  of  the  narrative — 
for  he  was  recognized  as  a  gentleman  in  society — had  been 
in  the  frequent  receipt,  by  mail,  of  remittances  in  large  and 
small  sums.  Not  long  since  he  made  his  appearance  at 
the  desk  of  the  chief  clerk  in  the  post-office,  and  alleged 
that  he  had  just  taken  from  his  box  a  letter  from  which  a 


334  THE  DISHONEST  MERCHANT. 

draft  on  a  city  bank  for  about  one  hundred  dollars  had 
been  fraudulently  abstracted,  and,  as  the  point  from  which 
the  letter  had  been  mailed  was  but  a  short  distance  from 
Philadelphia,  he  was  confident  that  the  draft  had  been 
abstracted  by  some  one  in  the  post-office  here.  This  im- 
putation on  the  character  of  the  office  nettled  the  chief 
clerk,  and  that  functionary  determined  to  sift  the  matter 
to  the  bottom  and  ferret  out  the  criminal,  if  such  there 
was.  He  made  the  necessary  inquiries  as  to  the  day  the 
letter  was  due  here,  closely  cross-examined  the  clerks,  and, 
after  a  diligent  investigation,  proceeded  to  the  bank  on 
which  the  draft  was  drawn.  He  found  that  it  had  been 
paid,  and  bore  the  indorsement,  or  seeming  indorsement, 
of  the  loser.  He  borrowed  the  draft  and  brought  it  to 
the  office.  On  comparing  the  apparently-forged  signature 
of  the  loser  on  the  back  of  the  document  with  the  hand- 
writing of  a  certain  night-clerk,  a  remarkable  resemblance 
was  discovered.  Several  experts  were  called  in,  and  de- 
clared that  the  handwriting  of  the  clerk  and  the  chiro- 
graphy  of  the  "  forger"  were  one  and  the  same.  A  clerk  in 
the  bank  was  privately  shown  the  suspected  clerk,  and  he 
identified  him  as  the  man  to  whom  the  money  had  been 
paid!  The  network  seemed  to  be  closing  around  the  poor 
night-clerk,  and  it  was  determined  that  he  should  be  ar- 
rested. The  chief  clerk,  jubilant  at  his  discovery,  sent 
for  the  merchant  who  said  he  had  lost  the  draft.  While 
the  chief  clerk  and  the  merchant  were  closeted  in  the  post- 
master's private  office,  and  the  former  was  detailing  his 
success  to  the  merchant-,  he  observed,  as  he  proceeded  with 
the  recital,  that  the  merchant  began  to  wear  a  livid  hue; 
his  countenance  assumed  a  pallicl  aspect,  in  which  a  guilty 
conscience  seemed  to  come  to  the  surface  to  horrify  and 
disgust  the  beholder.  Trembling  lips,  too,  were  seen,  and, 
as  the  truth  in  all  its  damning  meanness  flashed  across  the 
mind  of  the  chief  clerk,  he  at  once  boldly  charged  the 


LETTERS  ADDRESSED  TO  CITIES  ONLY.        335 

merchant  with  having  written  his  own  signature  in  a 
feigned  hand,  so  as  to  secure  the  spoils  of  his  own  guilt 
and  ruin  an  innocent  man.  The  guilty,  miserable  creature, 
overwhelmed  with  confusion,  confessed  his  guilt  and  im- 
plored mercy.  He  acknowledged  his  criminality  in  the 
whole  transaction, — a  transaction  which  was  about  to  stain 
forever  the  reputation  of  an  honest,  hard-working  man, 
whose  only  capital  was  his  skill  as  a  scrivener  and  his 
integrity  in  his  clerical  position.  The  chief  clerk,  deter- 
mined that  the  reputation  of  the  night-clerk  should  be 
vindicated,  threatened  to  have  the  guilty  merchant  exposed 
and  punished  unless  he  proceeded  to  a  magistrate  at  once 
and  made  an  affidavit  confessing  the  crime  in  all  its 
details.  The  merchant  humiliated  himself  by  signing  and 
swearing  to  the  odious  confession,  and  the  matter  there 
rested. 

LETTERS  ADDRESSED  TO  CITIES  ONLY. 

Many  persons  are  in  the  habit  of  addressing  letters  and 
circulars  for  firms  and  individuals,  simply,  "Philadel- 
phia," "New  York,"  &c.  This  practice  not  unfrequently 
occasions  delay  in  such  letters  reaching  their  rightful 
owners.  In  all  cases,  however  well  the  firm  may  bo 
known,  it  is  most  essential,  to  insure  their  correct  delivery, 
that  the  street  or  locality  in  which  they  reside,  and  the 
number  of  the  house,  should  form  a  portion  of  the  address. 
Many  of  these  circulars  are  prepared  with  great  care  and 
considerable  expense :  yet  they  are  so  carelessly  directed  that 
not  more  than  one-half  of  them  ever  reach  their  place  of 
destination,  simply  because  that  place  is  not  designated. 

There  is  another  matter  to  which  we  would  call  the 
attention  of  merchants  and  others,  and  that  is,  to  be  very 
careful  in  putting  postal  currency  on  their  letters,  and  not 
revenue-stamps. 

This  carelessness  on  the  part  of  those  forwarding  letters 


336  UNMAILABLE  LETTERS. 

has  led  to  much  loss  and  inconvenience,  and  if  persisted 
in  they  cannot  blame  the  department,  which  has  from 
time  to  time  called  public  attention  to  the  fact.  Some 
put  on  their  letters  revenue-stamps,  others  no  stamp  at 
all;  and  in  many  instances  letters  of  importance  have 
thus  lain  in  the  office  until  the  parties  have  received 
through  the  dead -letter  office  information  of  their  where- 
abouts. 

UNMAILABLE  LETTERS. 

"Letters  attempted  to  be  sent  with  stamps  previously 
used  or  stamps  cut  from  stamped  envelopes. 

"Unpaid  letters  for  foreign  countries,  on  which  prepay- 
ment is  required  by  the  regulations. 

"  Letters  not  addressed,  or  so  badly  addressed  that  their 
destination  cannot  be  known. 

"  Letters  misdirected  to  places  where  there  are  no  post- 
offices." 

It  will  be  here  seen  that  the  government  is  not  respon- 
sible for  the  ignorance  and  stupidity  of  all  epistolarians. 

In  some  instances,  however,  postmasters  are  to  blame  in 
not  paying  more  attention  to  the  mode  of  stamping  letters. 

The  examination  of  dead-letters  discloses  much  care- 
lessness on  the  part  of  postmasters  in  post-marking  letters, 
and  also  in  cancelling  postage-stamps. 

The  latter  clause  of  the  regulations  of  1859,  section 
397,  is  repealed,  and  the  use  of  the  office-rating  or  post- 
marking stamp  as  a  cancelling  instrument  is  positively 
prohibited,  inasmuch  as  the  post-mark,  when  impressed 
on  the  postage-stamp,  is  usually  indistinct,  and  the  can- 
cellation effected  thereby  is  imperfect.  The  postage-stamp 
must,  therefore,  be  effectually  cancelled  with  a  separate 
instrument. 

Special  attention  is  directed  to  the  duty  imposed  upon 
postmasters  by  Regulation  396,  which  is  as  follows: — 

"If  the  cancelling  has  been   omitted   on   the  mailing 


ADDRESSES  SHOULD  BE  LEGIBLE.  337 

of  the  letter,  packet,  or  parcel,  or  if  the  cancellation  be 
incomplete,  the  postmaster  at  the  office  of  delivery  will 
cancel  the  stamp  in  the  manner  directed,  and  forthwith 
report  the  delinquent  postmaster  to  the  postmaster-gene- 
ral, as  the  law  requires." 

ADDRESSES  SHOULD  BE  LEGIBLE  AND  COMPLETE. 

We  have  under  other  heads  alluded  to  the  carelessness 
of  persons  in  addressing  their  letters.  To  make  them 
legible  and  complete,  give  the  name  of  the  post-town,  and 
if  there  be  more  than  one  town  of  that  name,  or  if  the 
post-town  is  not  well  known,  be  careful  in  giving  the  name 
of  the  county,  which  in  all  cases  is  as  essential  as  that  of 
the  State.  The  number  of  the  house,  too,  if  in  a  street, 
is  a  great  assistance.  It  must  not  be  supposed  that  be- 
cause a  letter  will  eventually  reach  its  destination  without 
a  number,  the  omission  is  not  a  cause  of  hesitation  and 
delay  in  the  process  of  sorting  for  delivery ;  and  when 
such  small  delays  occur  again  and  again,  they  tend  greatly 
to  retard  the  general  distribution.  In  the  case  of  letters 
for  places  abroad,  the  name  of  the  country,  as  well  as  the 
town  or  city,  should  be  given  in  full.  Attention  to  this 
latter  precaution  will  often  assist  in  deciphering  the  name 
of  the  town  or  city,  and  will  prevent  the  letter  from  being 
mis-sent  when  there  are  towns  of  the  same  name  in  differ- 
ent countries. 

The  following  is  an  expressive  lesson : — 

A  gentleman  posted  a  letter  containing  drafts,  checks,  &c., 
to  a  well-known  New  York  house.  Its  failure  to  arrive 
at  the  proper  destination,  of  course,  created  great  anxiety, 
and  all  the  ordinary  and  some  extraordinary  means  were 
employed  to  head  off  any  attempt  by  the  "  mail-robber'' 
to  negotiate  the  "stolen"  remittances.  Journeys  were 
made  to  and  fro  between  the  mailing  point  and  the  Empire 
City,  the  newspapers  were  liberally  patronized  with  notices 

29 


338  A  LAW  TO  BE  REPEALED. 

of  "stolen  from  the  mail,"  circulars  descriptive  of  the  lost 
enclosure  abounded, — all  at  an  aggregate  expense,  accord- 
ing to  confession,  of  over  one  hundred  dollars. 

During  this  short  season  of  precaution  and  excitement, 
the  letter  in  question  had  been  making  the  official  ac- 
quaintance of  the  worthy  postmaster  of  New  Haven,  Con- 
necticut, and  that  of  his  clerks,  then,  under  the  rule, 
skipping  off  to  shake  hands  with  our  friends  of  the  dead- 
letter  office,  and  from  thence  finding  its  way  back  to  the 
writer,  who  says  he  "  never  before  did  such  a  stupid  thing 
as  to  write  New  Haven,  Ct.,  instead  of  New  York,  N.Y." 

A  LAW  TO  BE  REPEALED. 

It  is  only  necessary  to  give  this  section  of  the  postal 
law  to  show  its  inconsistency  and  the  necessity  of  its  repeal 
(Section  131,  Printed  Eegulations,  1859)  :— 

"  Bond  fide  subscribers  to  weekly  newspapers  can  re- 
ceive the  same  free  of  postage,  if  they  reside  in  the  county 
in  which  the  paper  is  printed  and  published,  even  if  the 
office  to  which  the  paper  is  sent  is  without  the  county, 
provided  it  is  the  office  at  which  they  regularly  receive 
their  mail-matter." 

In  justice,  however,  to  many  publishers,  who  look  upon 
the  law  as  too  liberal,  they  disdain  taking  advantage  of  it.* 

*  We  were  told  by  an  officer  of  the  department  that  the  meaning  of 
this  section  of  the  postal  law  is  not  made  sufficiently  clear,  but  it  is 
generally  understood  by  those  who  have  control  of  an  office.  This  is 
not  the  case ;  for  we  know  one  large  newspaper  (weekly)  proprietor 
who,  taking  the  section  literally,  sends  a  very  large  edition  of  his 
paper  through  the  Philadelphia  post-office  to  all  his  subscribers,  and 
defends  himself  under  this  order  from  the  general  post-office: — 
"  Weekly  newspapers  (one  copy  only)  sent  by  the  publisher  to  actual  sub- 
scribers within  the  county  where  printed  and  published,  free." 


NEWSPAPERS,  EXCHANGES,  ETC.  339 

POSTAGE  ON  TRANSIENT  PRINTED  MATTER. 

Books  not  over  4  ounces  in  weight,  to  one  address  4  cts. 

"      over  4  ounces  and  not  over  8  ounces 8  " 

"      over  8  ounces  and  not  over  12  ounces 12  " 

"      over  12  ounces  and  not  over  16  ounces 16  " 

Circulars  not  exceeding  three  in  number,  to  one 

address 2  " 

over  three  and  not  over  six 4  " 

"        over  six  and  not  over  nine 6  " 

over  nine  and  not  exceeding  twelve 8  " 

Persons  anxious  to  possess  a  general  knowledge  of  the 
post-office  laws,  rules,  and  regulations  are  referred  to 
"Appleton's  United  States  Postal  Guide/7  published 
quarterly,  by  the  authority  of  the  postmaster-general, 
New  York.  It  contains  the  chief  regulations  of  the  post- 
office,  and  a  complete  list  of  post-offices  throughout  the 
United  States,  &c.  The  following  accompanies  each 
number : — 

"WASHINGTON,  D.C.,  ,  1865. 

"This  volume  has  been  prepared  with  my  sanction, 
and  is  an  authorized  medium  of  information  between  the 
post-office  department  and  the  public. 

"  POSTMASTER-GENERAL." 

NEWSPAPERS,  EXCHANGES,  ETC. 

"  Gazettes  sent  gratis  down  and  franked, 
For  which  thy  patron's  weekly  thanked." 

The  question  of  the  right  to  send  and  receive  letters 
and  packets  through  the  mail  free  of  postage  is  not  denied, 
for  it  is  so  expressly  stated  in  the  "  Laws  and  Regulations 
of  the  Post-Office  Department,"  chap,  xviii.  sect.  228.  It 
is  viewed  in  the  light  of  "  personal  privileges,"  or  as  an 
official  trust  for  the  maintenance  of  official  correspondence, 


340  NEWSPAPERS,  EXCHANGES,  ETC. 

In  both  its  forms  the  right  varies  in  respect  to  different 
classes  of  officers  and  individuals,  in  the  kind  as  well  as 
weight  of  matters  which  may  be  so  sent  or  received.  An 
interchange  between  publishers  of  pamphlets,  periodicals, 
magazines,  and  newspapers  of  their  respective  publications 
is  allowed  for  the  purpose  of  promoting  the  dissemination 
of  this  kind  of  information,  of  which  they  are  the  vehicles. 
This  is  the  head  and  front  of  the  franking  privilege, 
nothing  more,  but  should  be  considerably  less. 

"There  are  many  other  channels  of  knowledge,  and  of 
very  important  knowledge,  too,  which  are  not  privileged. 
Newspapers  are  daily  or  weekly  letters,  written  to  a  num- 
ber of  persons  at  once.  They  may  be  good  or  bad,  sound 
or  vicious,  as  any  other  letters ;  and  the  intensity  of  their 
action  is  increased  by  the  multiplying  process  of  print- 
ing. This  action  may  be  good  or  bad :  if,  therefore,  the 
community  is  believed  to  stand  in  want  of  newspapers,  as 
we  certainly  believe  it  does  in  a  very  great  variety  of 
ways,  it  is  already  going  very  far  to  grant  them  the  privi- 
lege of  a  greatly-reduced  rate  of  postage  [1841]."* 

Since  the  above  was  written,  these  rates  have  been  re- 
duced to  almost  a  nominal  value.  Indeed,  we  cannot  see 
any  reasonable  objection  to  be  made  for  such  exchange, 
both  as  regards  the  franking  privilege  and  the  postage  on 
exchange-newspapers.  Patriotism  on  the  part  of  those 
claiming  the  right  of  the  first  would  induce  them  to 
forego  it,  while  those  who  enjoy  the  latter  should  re- 
member that,  as  they  derive  profit  from  their  labor,  the 
government  should  not  be  the  sufferer  in  consequence. 
Upon  this  subject  we  consider  the  following  article  from 
the  very  able  report  of  Postmaster  Joseph  Holt  in  1859 
as  containing  the  best  and  the  most  forcible  arguments 
that  can  be  used  to  correct  what  we  consider  more  in  the 

*  New  York  Review. 


NEWSPAPERS,  EXCHANGES,  ETC.  341 

light  of  an  error  than  that  of  an  abuse.  The  press  of  our 
country  is  too  enlightened  to  persist  in  claiming  a  privi- 
lege that  militates  against  the  financial  interest  of  the 
government ;  and  we  feel  assured  that,  if  the  subject  is 
properly  brought  before  them,  they  will  readily  conform 
to  any  law  that  may  be  established  to  correct  the  error  or 
do  away  with  an  abuse. 

(From  the  Report  of  the  Postmaster-General.) 

"  POST-OFFICE  DEPARTMENT,  1859. 

"The  act  of  1825  authorized  ' every  printer  of  news- 
papers to  send  one  paper  to  each  and  every  other  printer 
of  newspapers  within  the  United  States  free  of  postage/ 
and  such  is  the  existing  law.  However  slight  the  support 
which  this  statute  may  seem  to  give  to  publishers,  it  im- 
poses in  the  aggregate  a  heavy  and  unjust  burden  on  the 
department.  The  advantage  thus  conferred  inures  to  the 
benefit  alike  of  the  publisher  who  sends  and  of  him  who 
receives  the  paper  in  exchange.  I  have  in  vain  sought 
for  any  satisfactory  explanation  of  the  policy  indicated  by 
this  provision.  It  seems  far  more  exceptionable  than  the 
franking  privilege,  since  the  latter  professes  to  be  exercised 
on  behalf  of  the  public,  whereas  the  exemption  secured 
by  the  former  is  enjoyed  wholly  in  advancement  of  a 
private  and  personal  interest.  The  newspapers  received 
in  exchange  by  the  journalist  are,  in  the  parlance  of  com- 
merce, his  stock  in  trade.  From  their  columns  he  gathers 
materials  for  his  own,  and  thus  makes  the  same  business 
use  of  them  that  the  merchant  does  of  his  goods,  or  the 
mechanic  of  the  raw  material  which  he  proposes  to  manu- 
facture into  fabrics.  But  as  the  government  transports 
nothing  free  of  charge  to  the  farmer,  the  merchant,  or  the 
mechanic,  to  enable  them  to  prosecute  successfully  and 
economically  their  respective  pursuits,  why  shall  it  do  so 
for  the  journalist  ?  If  the  latter  can  rightfully  claim  that 

29* 


342  NEWSPAPERS,  EXCHANGES,  ETC. 

his   newspapers   shall  be  thus   delivered  to  him  at  the 
public   expense,   why  may   he    not   also   claim   that    his 
stationery  and  his  type,  and  indeed   every  thing  which 
enters  into  the  preparation  of  the  sheets  he  issues  as  his 
means  of  living,  be  delivered  to  him  on  the  same  terms  ? 
It  has  been  urged,  I  am  aware,  that  postage  on  newspaper 
exchanges  would  be  a  tax  on  the  dissemination  of  know- 
ledge ;  but  so  is  the  postage  which  the  farmer,  merchant, 
and  mechanic  pay  on  the  neAVSpapers  for  which  they  sub- 
scribe, a  tax  on  the  dissemination  of  knowledge,  and  yet 
it  is  paid  by  them   uncomplainingly.     If  it  be  insisted 
that  the  publishers  of  newspapers,  as  a  class,  are  in  such 
a  condition  as  to  entitle  them  to  demand  the  aid  of  the 
public  funds,   it  may  be  safely  answered   that  such  an 
assumption  is  wholly  unwarranted.     Journalism  in  the 
United  States  rests  upon  the  broadest  and  deepest  founda- 
tions, and  is  running  a  career  far  more  brilliant  and  pros- 
perous than  in  any  other  nation  of  the  world.     The  ex- 
ceedingly reduced  rates  at  which  its  issues  pass  through 
the  mails  secure  to  it  advantages  enjoyed  under  no  other 
government.     Under  the  fostering  care  of  the  free  spirit 
of  the  age,  it  has  now  become  an  institution  in  itself  in 
this  country,  and  controls  the  tides  of  the  restless  ocean 
of  public  opinion  with  almost  resistless  sway.     It  is  the 
avant- courier  of  the   genius  of  our  institutions,  and  is 
everywhere  the  advocate  of  progress  and  of  the  highest 
and  noblest  forms  of  human  freedom.     Is  it  not,  there- 
fore, to  the  last  degree  unseemly,  if  not  worse,  that  in  its 
own  enterprises,  and  in  furtherance  of  its  own  pecuniary 
interests,  it  should  claim  permission  to  violate  habitually 
a  great  principle  of  which  it  is  the  constant  advocate,  and 
which  underlies  our  whole  political  system, — the  principle 
of  equal  rights  to  all  and  special  privileges  to  none  ?     If, 
however,  from  the  grandeur  and  beneficence  of  its  mission, 
the  press  is  to  be  excepted   from  the  operation  of  this 


LETTER  ADDRESSES.  343 

wholesome  democratic  doctrine,  and  is  to  be  subsidized  to 
the  extent  of  its  postages  by  the  government,  then  unde- 
niably such  subsidy  should  be  contributed  from  the  com- 
mon treasury,  instead  of  being  imposed,  as  at  present, 
on  the  oppressed  revenues  of  the  post-office  department, 
which,  under  all  circumstances,  should  be  maintained  in- 
violate. 

"Into  the  same  category,  but  for  more  cogent  reasons, 
must  fall  that  class  of  weekly  newspapers  which  the  statute 
of  1852  requires  shall  be  delivered  free  of  postage  to  all 
subscribers  residing  within  the  limits  of  the  county  in 
which  they  are  published.  This  requisition  is  less  sound 
on  the  score  of  principle  than  even  the  discrimination  in 
favor  of  the  press.  There  may  be  something  in  the  cha- 
racteristics of  the  latter — ennobled  as  it  is  as  the  organ 
of  the  intellect  and  heart  of  millions  of  freemen — which 
might  induce  many  to  grant  to  it  special  and  distinguish- 
ing immunities ;  but  why  a  citizen  who  chances  to  reside 
on  one  side  of  a  county  line  shall  be  exempted  from  a 
postage  on  his  newspaper,  which  his  neighbor  on  the  other 
side  of  that  line  is  obliged  to  pay  on  the  same  paper,  sur- 
passes my  comprehension." 

LETTER  ADDRESSES* 

To  Nathaniel  K.  Latting  this  letter  I  write, 

With  the  hope  that  the  contents  his  mind  may  delight. 

If  it  don't  make  him  good,  it  can't  do  him  evil, 

For  it  comes  from  a  friend,  and  not  from  the  d — 1. 

In  Mount  Vernon  village,  New  York  State, 

He  works  for  his  daddy,  both  early  and  late. 

To  Miss  J.  E.  Peck  this  letter  is  sent, 

To  be  read  by  herself  it  only  is  meant. 

In  "  Sandy  Hook,"  Conn.,  she  leads  a  gay  life, 

Where  Yankees  make  nutmegs  and  hams  with  a  knife. 

For  a  number  of  these  addresses  the  author  is  indebted  to  that  ex- 
cellent paper  entitled  the  "United  States  Mail." 


344  LETTER  ADDRESSES. 

P.  M.,  this  letter  cannot  wait, 

To  Burlington  County  send  it  straight. 

To  Jos.  Wright  this  message  give, 

Who  in  Medford,  New  Jersey,  himself  doth  live ; 

At  least  he  did  six  months  ago,. 

And  still  does  if  the  draft  or  the  small-pox  has  not  laid  him  low. 

If  he  is  alive  he  will  read  this  letter, 

And  if  he  is  dead  so  much  the  better. 


Over  the  plain  and  over  the  level, 
Carry  this  letter  like  the  Devil ; 
Let  it  not  stop  for  flood  or  fire, 
Until  it  reaches  Bill  Crawl,  Esquire. 


To  Lexington,  Sanilac  Co., 

Oh,  swiftly,  swiftly  let  me  go, 

To  cheer  the  heart,  or  cloud  the  brow, 

Of  Mrs,  Anna  M.  Monro. 

Mich. 

Mr.  James  Smith,  Fort  Wayne, 

Antwerp,  Ohio,  in  care  of  William 
Herring,  Cayuaga  Co.,  N.  Y. 


To  Mrs.  Jane  Gleason  send  this  away ; 

Please  send  it  off  without  delay 

To  Ripleyville  P.  0.,  if  it  goes  aright; 

She  will  surely  get  it  on  Thursday  night, 

In  Huron  county,  Ohio  State : 

There  she  lives,  or  did  of  late. 

Send  it  in  taste,  it  will  give  her  joy, 

For  she  wants  to  hear  from  her  soldier  boy. 


To  John  Gillespiee 
Camp.  Cade.    ' 
Dell.  A  Ware,  Pa. 


Meaning  Camp  Cadwalader. 


To  Peter  Smith 
1209  Cartridge  St. 

3.  Este.  Av. 
near  3  Esher. 


LETTER  ADDRESSES.  345 

Mr.  Isaac  Bakerson 
Cam.  Cal.  Walter 

Ner.  Filladelphy 
R.  2  1  N.  E. 


To  Phil.  Monitze 

n  care  of  mister  John  dick 
filladelfy.  Kensession.  America. 

To  My  Mother- 
America 

Connected  with  this  letter  is  the  following  incident :  it 
fortunately  came  to  Philadelphia,  and,  of  course,  from  its 
superscription  was  placed  apart  to  find  its  way  to  the 
dead-letter-office.  One  day  a  poor  Irishwoman  came  to 
the  window  and  asked  for  a  letter  from  her  son,  giving 
no  name.  The  simplicity  of  the  question  struck  the  clerk, 
and  the  letter  addressed  "  To  My  Mother"  flashed  upon 
his  mind.  He  turned  to  the  case  and  selected  the  letter. 

"Where  does  your  son  reside?  what  part  of  Ireland?" 

"Belfast,  sir."     Belfast  was  the  post-mark. 

"What  is  his  name?" 

"Patrick  McLaughlan." 

"Open  that  letter,"  handing  her  the  one  in  question. 
She  did  so,  and,  casting  her  eyes  on  the  signature,  ex- 
claimed, "  From  my  son !  from  my  boy !"  Sure  enough, 
there  was  the  name, — Patrick  McLaughlan. 

The  clerk  gave  her  some  instructions  for  future  corre- 
spondence which  probably  proved  of  advantage  to  her. 

Somebody  sent  a  newspaper  through  the  mails  the  other 
day  directed  as  follows:  "To  Honest  Father  Abraham, 
God  bless  him,  Washington,  D.  C." 

The  following  is  a  literal  copy  of  the  superscription  of 
a  registered  letter  received  from  Ireland,  written,  strange 
as  it  may  seem,  in  a  "clerkly  hand": — 


346  LETTER  ADDRESSES. 

To  this  letter  I  pray  attend 

To  A  lady  Late  of  Ireland 

To  the  maiden's  name  ascribe  the  thing 

To  Late  miss  Eliza  King 

To  get  success  in  your  routes 

Take  this  to  america  or  thereabouts. 

The  Army  is  the  tightest  place 

I  ever  did  get  into, 
I  cannot  pay  the  freight  on  this, 

Although  I  really  want  to; 
I've  "nary  red,"  but  five  months  due — 

Don't  think  it's  "on  the  level" — 
Postmaster,  you  may  send  this  through, 

Or  chuck  it  to  the  d — 1. 


To  Patrick  Larkin  who  moved  to  his  brothers  at  Adamsville  in  haste 
to  the  care  of  Bernard  Larkin  State  of  Penlyva. 


To  Albert  Walker,  an  awful  talker, 

Who  lives  in  Salina — you  won't  find  a  meaner 

If  you  travel  all  day  through  the  State  of  I-O-A. 


My  fair  is  paid  in  postel  rate, 

To  Kingston  Township,  New^York  State, 

To  Frederick  Johnston,  from  a  friend  in  Troy, 

'Tis  how  are  you,  my  conscript  boy? 


To  a  Mr.  Service  this  letter  I  write, 

And  I'll  start  across  the  plains  to  night; 

For  the  over-land  mail  is  now  running  through 

Down  the  South  Platte,  and  across  the  Big  Blue, 

The  Sioux,  and  the  Cheyennes,  have  failed  in  their  plan 

To  stop  the  mail  of  Old  Uncle  Sam, 

And  over  the  plains,  I  now  can  go  straight, 

To  the  Old  Quaker  City,  and  the  Keystone  State. 


Across  the  river  quickly  send  me, 

In  doing  so  do  not  rend  me, 

Take  me  to  Gussie  Wurderman, 

Carry  me  quick  and  do  it  well, 

Or  Corney  Walborn  will  catch rats! 


LETTER  ADDRESSES.  347 

To  Sxl2  Thes.  Johnes 

Haile  Alley  towne.     Des. 
Unetede  Stateese. 

Pencil. 
Deth,  in  hast. 

We  doubt  if  this  letter  ever  reached  its  destination. 

It  is  somewhere  along  the  Jersey  shore 
Thirty  miles  belong  long  branch  and  more, 
For  if  this  should  fail  to  set  you  right 
Its  about  28  miles  above  Barnegets  light. 
To  Miss x. 


To  Jno.  Tripler 
Kidge  avenue 

Deap  Pot. 
Sleep  Eaves 

Phila 
To  John  Jones,  a  laboring  man 

This  letter  must  go  if  e'er  so  lucky 
He  shoes  can  make,  and  leather  tan 
In  Lexington  town,  in  old  Kentucky. 


If  the  Postmaster  knows  an  alley 
In  the  city,  called— Vandally 
No  10 — this  letter,  may  by  chance 
Reach  the  sight  of  Mary  Hance. 


To  Patric  Gonegan 

Pisin  road,  South  Work 
Knavee  yarde,  or  theire  somware 
filedelphirea 

John  Shmeet 

Shermummerbauner  Roth 
began  Wester 

And  Jamphen  St. 

A  literal  translation,  after  much  study  of  the  dead  lan- 
guages, the  following  was  the  result: — 


348  LETTER  ADDRESSES. 

John  Smith 
Germantown  Road 

Between  Master  &  Thompson 


Ns  Duniel 

lesunt  Yost 
nrpfflen  pliladelpha 

Pa  in  Ceuse  ob 
obed 

Eas  make 

All  Greek  to  the  clerks. 

Gasnot  Hill 
Hoss  Spittall,  for 

Mrs.  C.  Gellengham. 


For  Dan,  that  was 

In  Smith's  Store. 

No  other  direction. 

In  care  of  mister  John  Dick 

filladelfy 
King's  Sessions,  mericai 

The  "New  York  Tribune"  gives  the  following  amusing 
addresses,  in  rhyme  and  otherwise,  that  have  passed 
through  the  post-office  in  that  city : — 

To  be  forwarded  to 
Margaret  Flynn 
and  from  you  Margaret 
to  your  brother  Jack 
and  Sister  Honora 
Sister  Ellen  and  Michael 
In  care  of  Mr.  Wm.  H.  Baldwin  E.  S.  K,  America. 

Another : — 

To  John  Barry,  if  living. 

but  if  not,  to  his  wife,  or  some  of  the  children  if  living,  and  if  not  to 
some  respectable  neighbor. 


LETTER  ADDRESSES.  349 

Speed  on  little  missive  to  Marble  Head, 
And  find  old  Joe  Sweet  either  living  or  dead, 
If  he's  living  of  course  he'll  read  this  letter 
But  if  he's  dead  why  all  the  better. 

MASS. 

Swift  as  the  dawn  your  course  pursue 

Let  nought  your  speed  restrain 

Until  you  meet  Miss  Mary  Drew 

In  Newfield  State  of  Maine. 

Here  is  a  lucid  address,  which  speaks  for  itself: — 

Thimothe  0  flanigan 

State  of  Masekeivitts 
or  elswhare. 

The  geographical  knowledge  of  the  gentleman  who 
penned  the  following  was  somewhat  extensive : — 

To  Mr  barthol  owen 

Kelly,  0' state 

Rhode  Island 

Connecticut. 

The  following  reminds  us  of  the  innocent  country-girl 
who  said  she  had  an  uncle  living  between  the  Battery  and 
Central  Park:— 

Bridget  Ware 

New  York,  29 

New  York  City 

22  America. 

Who  can  tell  of  the  whereabouts  of  Miss  Foster? 

Miss  Louise  Foster  36th  street  some 
wheres  Penny  Post  please  deliver. 

The  following  is  encouraging  to  the  postman : — 

To  Mike  Donovan 

or  to  his  cousin  Eliza  Mac  Farrelly. 

Postman  will  find  him  by  findin  Betsy  Brennen  who  was  engaged  to 
Mike  before  they  left  Ireland  and  may  be  married. 

80 


350  THE  MONEY-ORDER  SYSTEM. 

Mr.  Ford  must  be  a  well-known  individual  in  Maine, 
else  he  never  received  the  following  letter : — 

Mr.  Henry  Ford 

who  lives  in  the  same  place  in  the 

State  of  Maine. 

An  amusing  postscript  to  a  postmaster: — 

P.  S. — Please  give  this  letter  to  the  man  what's  got  a  sow  in  my  barn, 
as  he  wants  to  get  away. 

In  Byberry  Township,  near  the  mill 
And  in  a  house  upon  the  hill, 
Lives  a  young  lady  in  the  same 

Miss x  she  calls  her  name 

Below  the  House  on  Comly's  lot 

A  son  of  Vulcan  has  a  shop 

Now  Ross,  I  know,  you'll  oblige  the  fair 

Just  have  the  kindness  to  send  it  there. 

To  Leughellyn  Weintz 
Pass,  yhunk  Rode 
Below  Tom  Pitchers  bar  Room 
who  selles  most  infurnell  bad 
whiskee —  Southwerke, 

Philadelphy. 

THE  MONET-ORDER  SYSTEM. 

The  money-order  system,  which  in  England  is  so  popu- 
lar, has  partly  failed  here.  It  went  into  operation  on  the 
1st  of  November,  1864,  under  circumstances  which  pro- 
mised a  decided  success.  The  amount  to  which  the  law 
limited  the  order-system  was  not  less  than  one  dollar,  and 
not  more  than  thirty  dollars.  This  was  to  accommodate  a 
certain  class  of  people,  and  at  the  same  time  test  the  utility 
of  the  system  for  the  purpose  of  hereafter  creating  a  more 
extensive  operation  of  the  principle  and  also  increasing  the 
amount  of  money  sent. 

That  it  is  an  important  step  in  postal  progress  its  opera- 


THE  MONEY-ORDER  SYSTEM.  351 

tion  in  Europe  is  sufficient  proof;  but  here  we  started 
wrong.  What  should  have  been  a  plain,  simple  transac- 
tion between  the  parties — the  paying  money  and  receiving 
an  order — has  become  perfectly  mystified  by  the  ambiguity 
of  the  language  of  the  law,  as  well  as  the  numerous  tech- 
nicalities thrown  around  it.  A  poor  woman  applies  to  the 
window  for  a  postal  order  on  New  York  for  ten  dollars : 
she  expects  the  order  made  payable  to  herself  or  to  the 
party  to  whom  she  sends  it,  which  on  presentation  would  be 
immediately  paid.  It  will  be  observed,  upon  reading  the 
"  General  Principles  of  the  Money-Order  System"  and  the 
"Instructions  to  Postmasters  at  Money-Order  Offices/' 
that  if  this  poor  woman  was  requested  to  read  the  "laws 
and  regulations"  it  would  be  to  her  "all  Greek."  Were 
the  amounts  named  thousands  of  dollars  instead  of  pen- 
nies, those  interested  would  be  of  a  class  whose  education 
and  business  knowledge  would  enable  them  to  comprehend 
it:  as  it  is,  we  know  several  instances  of  pooi;  persons 
resorting  to  the  old  custom  of  forwarding  their  money 
rather  than  undergo  the  ordeal  of  a  clerk's  explanation  of 
the  law. 

GENERAL  PRINCIPLES  OF  THE  MONEY-ORDER  SYSTEM. 

I.  Money-order  offices   are  divided  into   two   classes. 
Offices  of  the  first  class  are  depositories,  in  which  those  of 
the  second  class  deposit  their  surplus  money-order  funds. 

II.  Any  office  in  either  class  may  draw  upon  any  other 
office  in  the  list  of  money-order  offices  for  a  sum,  upon 
one  order,  from  one  dollar  to  thirty  dollars.     But  when  a 
larger  sum  than  the  latter  is  required,  additional  orders  to 
make  it  up  must  be  obtained. 

III.  When  money-orders  exceeding  one  hundred  and 
fifty  dollars  in  aggregate  amount  are  issued  in  one  day, 
and  to  the  same  person,  by  one  or  more  offices,  upon  a 
second-class  office,  the  postmaster  at  the  office  so  drawn 


352  THE  MONEY-ORDER  SYSTEM. 

upon  will  be  permitted  to  delay  the  payment  of  such  orders 
for  five  days. 

IV.  The  money-orders  shall  be  made  out  upon  printed 
forms  supplied  by  the  post-office  department,  and  no  order 
will  be  valid  or  payable  unless  given  upon  one  of  such 
forms. 

V.  Any  person  applying  for  a   money-order  will  be 
required  to  state  the  particulars  upon  a  form  of  application 
which  will  be  furnished  to  him  for  that  purpose  by  the 
postmaster. 

VI.  If  the  purchaser  of  a  money-order,  from  having 
made  an  error  in  stating  the  name  of  the  office  of  payment, 
or  for  other  reasons,  desires  to  have  the  said  money-order 
changed,  the  issuing  postmaster  will  take  back  the  first 
order  and  issue  another  in  lieu  thereof,  for  which  an  addi- 
tional fee  shall  be  charged  and  exacted  as  for  a  new  trans- 
action.    The  order  so  taken  back  must  be  cancelled  by  the 
postmaster  and  entered  in  his  books  and  returns,  in  its 
proper  numerical  order,  as  "cancelled." 

VII.  Parties  procuring  money-orders  should  examine 
them  carefully,  to  see  that  they  are  properly  filled  up  and 
stamped.     This  caution  will  appear  the   more  necessary 
when  it  is  understood  that  any  defect  in  this  respect  will 
throw  difficulties  in  the  way  of  payment. 

VIII.  When  a  money-order  is  presented  for  payment 
at  the  office  upon  which  it  is  drawn,  the  postmaster  or 
authorized  clerk  will  use  all  proper  means  to  assure  him- 
self that  the  applicant  is  the  person  named  and  intended 
in  the  advice;  and  upon  payment  of  the  order  care  must 
be  taken  to  obtain  the  signature  of  the  payee  (or  of  the 
person  authorized  by  him  to  receive  payment)  to  the  re- 
ceipt on  the  face  of  the  order. 

IX.  When,  for  any  reason,  the  payee  of  a  money-order  does 
not  desire,  or  is  unable,  to  present  the  same  in  person,  he  is 
legally  empowered,  by  his  written  indorsement  thereon,  to 


THE  MONEY-ORDER  SYSTEM.  353 

direct  payment  to  be  made  to  any  other  person ;  and  it  is 
the  duty  of  the  postmaster  upon  whom  the  order  is  drawn 
to  pay  the  amount  thereof  to  the  person  thus  designated : 
provided  the  postmaster  is  satisfied  that  such  indorsement 
is  genuine,  and  that  the  second  party  shall  give  correct 
information  as  to  the  name  and  address  of  the  person  who 
originally  obtained  the  order.  MORE  THAN  ONE  INDORSE- 
MENT IS  PROHIBITED  BY  LAW,  AND  WILL  RENDER  AN 
ORDER  INVALID  AND  NOT  PAYABLE. 

X.  Any  money-order  office  may  repay  an  order  issued 
by  itself  if  repayment  is  applied  for  on  the  day  of  such 
issue,  but  then  only  to  the  person  who  obtained  it,  except 
in  special  cases.     The  fee  or  charge  shall  not  in  any  case 
be  refunded.     If,  however,  repayment  of  an  order  is  de- 
sired later  than  one  day  after  its  issue,  the  postmaster  must 
refer  the  application  to  the  money-order  office  of  the  post- 
office  department. 

XI.  The  fees  or  charges  for  money-orders  will  be  as 
follows : — 

For  an  order  of  $1  or  more,  but  not  exceeding  $10, 
10  cents. 

For  an  order  of  $10  or  more,  but  not  exceeding  $20, 
15  cents. 

For  an  order  of  $20  or  more,  but  not  exceeding  $30, 
20  cents. 

Fractions  of  cents  must  not  be  introduced  into  any 
order. 

XII.  When  a  money-order  has  been  lost  by  either  re- 
mitter or  payee,  a  duplicate  thereof  will  be  issued  to  the 
party  losing  the  original,  provided   he   shall   furnish  a 
statement,  under  oath   or   affirmation,  setting   forth   the 
loss  or  destruction  thereof,  and  a  certificate  from  the  post- 
master by  whom  it  was  payable,  that  the  said  order  had 
not  been  paid,  and  would  not  thereafter  be  paid  if  pre- 

30* 


354  THE  MONEY-ORDER  SYSTEM. 

sented.  A  second  fee  will  be  charged  and  exacted  for  the 
issue  of  duplicate  orders. 

"The  Instructions  to  Postmasters  at  Money-Order 
Offices"  take  up  too  much  space  for  our  book :  indeed,  we  omit 
even  a  synopsis  of  them,  as  we  feel  perfectly  satisfied  that 
our  readers  would  have  to  study  law  before  they  could  fully 
comprehend  their  mysteries.  We  call  the  attention,  how- 
ever, of  the  public  to  the  following  rules  to  be  observed 
as  a  cautionary  measure : — 

"1.  To  take  all  means  to  prevent  the  loss  of  a  money- 
order. 

"2.  Never  to  send  the  order  in  the  same  letter  with  the 
information  required  on  payment  thereof. 

"  3.  To  be  careful,  on  taking  out  a  money-order,  to  state 
correctly  the  Christian  name,  as  well  as  the  surname,  of 
the  person  in  whose  favor  it  is  to  be  drawn 

"4.  To  see  that  the  name  and  address  of  the  person 
taking  out  the  money-order  are  correctly  made  known  to 
the  person  in  whose  favor  it  is  to  be  drawn. 

"  Neglect  of  these  instructions  will  risk  the  loss  of  the 
money,  besides  leading  to  delay  and  trouble  in  obtaining 
payment. 

"Under  no  circumstances  can  payment  of  an  order  be 
demanded  on  the  day  of  its  issue." 

If  the  money  is  not  called  for  within  ninety  days  after 
the  date  of  the  order,  there  will  be  difficulty  in  obtaining 
it.  The  regular  form  of  the  order  must  not  be  clipped  or 
mutilated.  When  the  payee  of  an  order  desires  the  same 
to  be  paid  to  any  other  person,  he  must  fill  up  and  sign 
a  form  of  indorsement,  and  furnish  such  second  party 
with  the  information  required  to  obtain  payment  of  his 
order,  who  upon  receiving  payment  must  sign  his  name 
upon  the  face  of  the  order.  More  than  one  indorsement 
is  prohibited  by  law,  and  will  render  the  order  invalid 
and  not  payable. 


FREEDOM  OF  THE  PRESS.  355 

It  is  to  be  regretted  that  the  system  had  not  been  laid 
down  so  as  to  come  within  the  comprehension  of  all,  and 
so  simplified  that  the  explanations  from  the  clerks  would 
not  tend  to  involve  it  in  a  greater  mystery.  It  reminds 
us  strongly  of  a  passage  in  Haddock's  Chancery  Practice, 
vol.  1,  p.  125,  intended  as  a  definition  of  law : — 

"  When  a  person  is  bound  to  do  a  thing,  and  he  does 
what  may  enable  him  to  do  the  thing,  he  is  supposed  in 
equity  to  do  it  with  the  view  of  doing  what  he  is  bound 
to  do." 

FREEDOM  OF  THE  PRESS. 

The  freedom  of  the  press,  as  understood  and  secured 
by  high  constitutional  authority,  consists  in  its  identifica- 
tion with  every  principle  which  is  involved  in  our  Decla- 
ration of  Independence.  It  dare  not  aim  its  shafts  at  the 
existence  of  the  government,  the  Constitution,  and  the 
Union.  And  yet  has  not  the  press — a  portion  of  it,  we 
mean — aimed  to  do  so  during  this  rebellion,  and  that,  too, 
at  a  time  while  claiming  that  government's  protection  ? 
A  press  devoted  to  the  cause  of  traitors  is  as  much  a  traitor 
to  the  government  as  are  those  who  are  arrayed  in  arms 
for  its  destruction.  It  ceases  to  be  considered  the  palla- 
dium of  liberty,  and  assumes  at  once  the  character  of  a 
rebel  and  a  spy,  the  moment  it  strikes  at  the  root  of  the 
tree  whose  fruit  is  freedom ! 

Our  government,  unfortunately,  at  the  outbreak  of  the 
rebellion  did  not  claim  the  power  to  suppress  such  trea- 
sonable publications,  but  actually  left  them  free  to  publish 
what  they  pleased.  The  consequence  was,  and  is,  that 
that  portion  of  the  press  is  as  hostile  to  the  administration 
now  as  it  was'in  the  beginning,  silence  giving  them  consent 
to  commit  crime.  Nor  was  this  all :  our  very  postal  de- 
partment assisted  in  disseminating  their  papers  by  allowing 
them  to  go  and  come  with  impunity.  Thus  the  mails 


356  FREEDOM  OF  THE  PRESS. 

established  by  the  United  States  Government  were  and, 
we  are  afraid,  are  still  used  for  its  own  destruction.  Is 
there  any  principle  of  law  or  of  justice  to  sanction  such 
leniency  on  our  part  ? 

Judge  Story,  of  the  Supreme  Court,  on  one  occasion, 
commenting  on  that  clause  of  the  Constitution  securing 
the  freedom  of  the  press,  says, — 

"That  this  amendment  was  intended  to  secure  to  every 
citizen  an  absolute  right  to  speak  or  write  or  print  what- 
soever he  might  please,  without  any  responsibility,  public 
or  private,  therefor,  is  a  supposition  too  wild  to  be  in- 
dulged in  by  any  rational  man.  This  would  be  to  allow 
to  every  citizen  the  right  to  destroy  at  his  pleasure  the 
reputation,  the  peace,  the  property,  and  even  the  personal 
safety  of  every  other  citizen.  A  man  might,  out  of  mere 
malice  or  revenge,  accuse  another  of  the  most  infamous 
crimes,  might  excite  against  him  the  indignation  of  all 
his  fellow-citizens  by  the  most  atrocious  calumnies,  might 
disturb,  nay,  overturn  all  his  domestic  peace,  and  embitter 
his  parental  affections,  might  inflict  the  most  distressing 
punishments  upon  the  weak,  the  timid,  and  the  innocent, 
might  prejudice  all  a  man's  civil  and  political  and  private 
rights,  and  might  stir  up  sedition,  rebellion,  and  treason, 
even  against  the  government  itself,  in  the  wantonness 
of  his  passions  or  the  corruption  of  his  heart.  Civil 
society  could  not  go  on  under  such  circumstances.  Men 
would  then  be  obliged  to  resort  to  private  vengeance  to 
make  up  the  deficiency  of  the  law ;  and  assassinations  and 
savage  cruelties  would  be  perpetrated  with  all  the  fre- 
quency belonging  to  barbarous  and  cruel  communities. 
It  is  plain,  then,  that  the  language  of  this  amendment 
imports  no  more  than  that  every  man  has  a  right  to  speak, 
write,  and  print  his  opinions  upon  any  subject  whatever, 
without  any  prior  restraint,  so  always  that  he  does  not 
injure  any  other  person  in  his  rights,  person,  property,  or 


POST-OFFICE  CURIOSITIES.  357 

reputation,  and  so  always  that  he  does  not  thereby  disturb 
the  public  peace  or  attempt  to  subvert  the  government." 

POST-OFFICE  CURIOSITIES. 

There  are  many  curious  things  daily  occurring  in  the 
post-office  under  this  head.  In  "Chambers's  Journal" 
we  find  the  following : — 

"A  formal  but  most  essential  rule  makes  letters  once 
posted  the  property  of  the  postmaster-general  until  they 
are  delivered  as  addressed,  and  they  must  not  be  given  up 
to  the  writers  on  any  pretence  whatever.  One  or  two  re- 
quests of  this  kind  related  to  us  we  are  not  likely  soon  to 
forget.  On  one  occasion  a  commercial  traveller  called  at 
an  office  and  expressed  a  fear  that  he  had  enclosed  two 
letters  in  wrong  envelopes,  the  addresses  of  which  he  fur- 
nished. It  appeared  from  the  account  which  he  reluctantly 
gave,  after  a  refusal  to  grant  his  request,  that  his  position 
and  prospects  depended  upon  his  getting  his  letters  and 
correcting  the  mistakes,  inasmuch  as  they  revealed  plans 
which  he  had  adopted  to  serve  two  mercantile  houses  in 
the  same  line  of  business,  whose  interests  clashed  at  every 
point.  Another  case  occurred  in  which  a  fast  young  gen- 
tleman confessed  to  carrying  on  a  confidential  correspond- 
ence with  two  young  ladies  at  the  same  time,  and  that  he 
had,  or  feared  he  had,  crossed  two  letters  which  he  had 
written  at  the  same  sitting.  Writing  of  this,  we  are 
reminded  of  a  case  in  which  a  country  postmaster  had 
a  letter  put  into  his  hand  through  the  office-window,  to- 
gether with  the  following  message,  delivered  with  great 
emphasis  : — '  Here's  a  letter ;  she  wants  it  to  go  along  as 
fast  as  it  can,  'cause  there's  a  feller  wants  to  have  her  here, 
and  she's  courted  by  another  feller  that's  not  here,  and  she 
wants  to  know  whether  he's  going  to  have  her  or  not.' '' 

THE  FATAL  LETTER. — A  tradesman's  daughter,  who 
had  been  for  some  time  engaged  to  a  prosperous  young 


358  NEWSPAPERS, 

draper  in  a  neighboring  town,  heard,  from  one  whom  she 
and  her  parents  considered  a  creditable  authority,  that  he 
was  on  the  verge  of  bankruptcy.  Not  a  day  was  to  be 
lost  in  breaking  the  bond  by  which  she  and  her  small  for- 
tune were  linked  to  penury.  A  letter,  strong  and  conclu- 
sive in  its  language,  was  at  once  written  and  posted,  when 
the  same  informant  called  upon  the  young  lady's  friends 
to  contradict  and  explain  his  former  statement,  which  had 
arisen  out  of  some  misunderstanding.  They  rushed  at 
once  to  the  post-office ;  and  no  words  can  describe  the 
scene, — the  reiterated  appeals,  the  tears,  the  wringing  of 
hands,  the  united  entreaties  of  father,  mother,  and  daughter, 
for  the  restoration  of  the  fatal  letter.  But  the  rule  ad- 
mitted of  no  exception,  and  the  young  lady  had  to  repent 
at  leisure  of  her  inordinate  haste. 

In  this  country  we  are  not  so  strict,  as  any  person  post- 
ing a  letter  can  have  it  restored  to  him  by  simply  signing 
his  name  to  the  fact  of  its  being  by  him  written.  We 
would,  however,  suggest  to  the  department  the  propriety 
of  establishing  the  English  system ;  for  we  feel  confident 
that  the  moment  rogues  turn  their  attention  to  the  post- 
office  for  the  purpose  of  plunder,  taking  advantage  of  this 
loose  way  of  doing  business  will  be  the  consequence. 
Another  thing :  it  will  make  men  more  careful,  and  thus 
save  the  department  an  immense  deal  of  trouble. 

NEWSPAPERS. 

Although  we  have  strict  laws  upon  the  subject  of  trifling 
with  newspapers,  our  postmasters  do  not  enforce  them  to 
the  extent  they  should.  The  following  is  a  provision  of 
the  English  law  which  does  not  remain,  as  with  us,  a 
"dead  letter:"— 

"Newspapers  are  always  to  be  considered  of  equal  im- 
portance with  letters;  and  postmasters  are  forbidden  to 


NEWSPAPERS.  359 

open  them  for  any  other  purpose  than  that  required  by 
law,  and  are  also  forbidden  to  lend  them  to  any  person." 

(From  the  "  English  Postal.") 

"BY  WEIGHT. — If  the  weight  be  exceeded  to  the  small- 
est extent,  even  though  the  balance  be  merely  turned,  the 
book  or  printed  paper  becomes  liable  to  a  higher  postage. 
To  provide,  therefore,  for  errors  in  scales,  &c.,  it  is  well 
to  allow  a  little  margin,  or  to  pay  the  postage  of  the  next 
greater  weight.  It  should  be  remembered  that  a  news- 
paper when  wet  weighs  more  than  when  dry.  Forgetful- 
ness  on  this  point  sometimes  causes  groundless  complaints 
about  charges  for  newspapers, — the  complainant  erroneously 
supposing,  on  weighing  the  newspaper  on  its  arrival,  and 
when  it  had  had  time  to  dry,  that  he  had  been  overcharged. 
The  foregoing  observations  apply  also  to  books,  &c.  sent 
abroad. 

"  INFORMATION. — No  information  can  be  given  respect- 
ing letters  which  pass  through  a  post-office,  except  to  the 
persons  to  whom  they  are  addressed;  and  in  no  other 
way  is  official  information  of  a  private  character  allowed 
to  be  made  public. 

"RETURN  LETTERS. — Postmasters  are  not  allowed  to 
return  any  letter  to  the  writer,  or  sender,  or  to  any  one 
else,  or  to  delay  forwarding  it  to  its  destination  according 
to  the  address,  even  though  a  request  to  such  effect  be 
written  thereon ;  as  every  letter  must  be  delivered  to  the 
person  to  whom  it  is  directed  (and  to  him  alone)  at  the 
address  it  bears. 

"  FORBIDDEN  ARTICLES. — The  rule  which  forbids  the 
transmission  through  the  post  of  any  article  likely  to  in- 
jure the  contents  of  the  mail-bags  or  the  person  of  any 
officer  of  the  post-office  is,  of  course,  applicable  to  the 
pattern-post ;  and  a  packet  containing  any  thing  of  the 
kind  will  be  stopped  and  not  sent  to  its  destination. 


360  WATCH  YOUR  LETTER-BOXES. 

Articles  such  as  the  following  have  been  occasionally 
posted  as  patterns,  and  have  been  detained  as  unfit  for  the 
post,  viz., — metal  boxes,  porcelain  and  china,  fruit,  vege- 
tables, bunches  of  flowers,  cuttings  of  plants,  spurs,  knives, 
scissors,  needles,  pins,  pieces  of  machinery,  watch-ma- 
chinery, sharp-pointed  instruments,  samples  of  metals, 
samples  of  ore,  samples  in  glass  bottles,  pieces  of  glass, 
acids  of  various  kinds,  curry-combs,  copper  and  steel  en- 
graving-plates, and  confectionery  of  various  kinds." 

WATCH  YOUR  LETTER-BOXES. 

In  many  of  our  large  post-offices  postmasters  have 
baskets  placed  inside  for  the  reception  of  letters.  These 
are  invariably  too  small,  and  it  not  unfrequently  occurs 
that  the  aperture  through  which  letters  pass  gets  choked 
up,  the  basket  being  full  to  its  mouth.  Any  person  could 
from  the  outside  take  a  handful  of  letters  without  any  one 
being  aware  of  it.  Honest  men,  however,  making  the 
discovery,  notify  the  clerks  of  the  situation  of  the  letters, 
but  not  until  it  is  very  natural  to  suppose  some  letters 
may  have  been  stolen.  This  will  account  in  some  measure 
for  the  mysterious  disappearance  of  letters  which  have 
caused  many  an  innocent  person  to  be  suspected  and  the 
business  operations  of  an  office  justly  censured.  These 
baskets,  instead  of  being  wide  and  shallow,  are  deep  and 
narrow.  If  properly  constructed  and  arranged,  there  would 
be  no  necessity  for  clerks  shouting  out,  "  Swamp  on  the 
baskets."  This  is  very  much  like  locking  the  stable-door 
after  the  horse  has  been  stolen. 

We  would  suggest,  therefore,  that  when  dropping  a 
letter,  newspaper,  &c.  into  a  letter-box,  always  to  see  that 
the  packet  falls  into  the  basket  or  box,  and  does  not  stick 
in  its  passage. 


SUGGESTIONS  TO  THE  PUBLIC,  ETC.  361 

SUGGESTIONS  TO  THE  PUBLIC,  ETC. 

The  following  sensible  suggestions  are  taken  from  ''The 
British  Postal  Guide :"  let  us  advise  our  readers  to  pay 
some  little  attention  to  them  : — 

"To  see  that  every  letter,  newspaper,  or  other  packet 
sent  by  post  is  securely  folded  and  sealed,  and  that,  when 
postage-stamps  are  remitted,  they  are  enclosed  in  paper 
sufficiently  thick  to  prevent  them  from  being  seen  or  felt 
through  the  cover.  It  should  be  remembered  that  every 
such  packet  has  to  be  several  times  handled,  and  that  even 
when  in  the  mail-bag  it  is  exposed  to  pressure  and  friction. 
Unless,  therefore,  the  article  be  light  and  pliant,  it  should 
be  enclosed  in  strong  paper,  linen,  parchment,  or  some 
other  material  which  will  not  readily  tear  or  break.  The 
observance  of  this  precaution  is  especially  necessary  when- 
ever any  fragile  articles  of  value  are  forwarded  by  post. 
These  should  always  be  enclosed  in  a  wooden  or  tin  box. 
Owing  to  neglect  of  these  precautions  many  postal  packets 
burst  open,  causing  much  trouble  to  the  department  and 
risk  to  the  owners,  it  being  sometimes  impossible  to  deter- 
mine to  what  packet  a  particular  article  belongs. 

"To  fasten  the  covers  of  newspapers  firmly,  so  as  to 
prevent  the  contents  from  slipping  out.  When,  for  ad- 
ditional security,  the  address  is  written  on  the  newspaper 
itself,  such  address  (if  the  newspaper  be  franked  by  an 
impressed  stamp)  must  in  case  of  re-transmission  be  cut 
off;  otherwise  the  newspaper  will  become  subject  to  a 
postage  of  2d.  It  is  not  sufficient  that  the  old  address  be 
obliterated,  as  the  rules  forbid  writing  or  marks  of  any 
kind  in  addition  to  the  true  address. 

"In  affixing  stamps,  to  wet  slightly  the  corner  of  the 
envelope  and  the  gummed  side  of  the  stamp,  and  then 
gently  to  press  the  stamp  till  it  is  firmly  fixed.  The 
practice  of  dipping  the  stamp  in  water  is  objectionable, 

•    31 


362  FORBIDDEN  ARTICLES. 

because,  unless  the  stamp  be  immediately  withdrawn,  and 
care  be  taken  by  the  use  of  blotting-paper  or  some  other 
absorbent  to  remove  any  excess  of  moisture,  the  gum  may 
be  washed  off,  or  the  stamp  may  be  rubbed  off  the  letter. 
By  the  use  of  envelopes  bearing  an  embossed  stamp  (which 
can  be  purchased  at  any  post-office),  all  risk  of  the  stamp 
being  detached  may  be  avoided. 

"Never  to  send  money  or  any  other  article  of  value 
through  the  post,  except  either  by  means  of  a  money- 
order  or  in  a  registered  letter.  Any  person  who  sends 
money  or  jewelry  in  an  unregistered  letter  not  only  runs 
a  risk  of  losing  his  property,  but  exposes  to  temptation 
every  one  through  whose  hands  his  letter  passes,  and  may 
be  the  means  of  ultimately  bringing  some  clerk  or  letter- 
carrier  to  moral  ruin.  Every  letter  which  contains  money 
or  other  valuable  article,  even  when  registered,  ought  to 
be  securely  sealed. 

FORBIDDEN  ARTICLES. 

"Postmasters  are  instructed  not  to  receive  any  letter, 
&c.  which  there  is  good  reason  to  believe  contains  any 
thing  likely  to  injure  the  contents  of  the  mail-bag  or  the 
person  of  any  officer  of  the  post-office.  If  such  a  packet 
be  posted  without  the  postmaster's  knowledge,  or  if  at  any 
time  before  its  despatch  he  should  discover  any  such 
packet,  he  is  directed  not  to  forward  it,  but  to  report  the 
case,  with  the  address  of  the  packet,  to  the  secretary.  The 
following  are  examples  of  the  articles  referred  to : — 

"  A  glass  bottle,  or  glass  in  any  form ;  razors,  scissors, 
needles,  knives,  forks,  or  other  sharp  instruments ;  leeches, 
game,  fish,  meat,  fruit,  or  vegetables;  bladders  or  other 
vessels  containing  liquids ;  gunpowder,  lucifer  matches,  or 
any  thing  which  is  explosive  or  combustible." 


LETTER-  CARRIERS—  ONE-  CENT  S  YSTEM.         363 

LETTER-CARRIERS,  THEIR  COMPENSATION,  ETC. 

"Letter-carriers  shall  be  employed  as  the  postmaster- 
general  shall  direct,  at  a  compensation  not  exceeding  $800 
a  year,  which  may  be  increased  to  $1000  at  offices  where 
the  income  will  allow,  on  proof  of  the  carrier's  fidelity, 
diligence,  and  experience.  Carriers  must  give  bond.  De- 
liveries shall  be  made  as  frequently  as  the  public  interest 
may  require.  No  carrier's  fee  or  extra  postage  shall  be 
charged  on  letters  delivered  or  collected  by  carriers. 
Separate  accounts  must  be  kept  of  the  expenses  of  the 
carrier-service  and  of  the  receipts  from  local  mail-matter ; 
and  all  such  expenses  must  be  paid  from  the  income  of 
the  office  employing  the  carriers.  Letter-carriers  may  be 
employed,  under  contract  between  postmaster  and  pub- 
lishers, to  deliver  newspapers,  periodicals,  circulars,  &c., 
but  such  contracts  must  be  first  approved  by  the  post- 
master-general ;  and  the  postmaster-general  may  also  pro- 
vide for  delivery  by  such  carriers  of  small  packets,  not 
exceeding  four  pounds  each,  at  the  rate  of  two  cents  for 
each  four  ounces." 

Attempts  were  made  subsequent  to  the  passage  of  this 
law  (1862)  to  have  the  salaries  increased  to  $1000,  urged 
by  the  applicants  in  consequence  of  the  high  price  of  pro- 
visions. In  1864  they  were  coolly  informed  that  there 
were  plenty  of  people  outside  ready  to  step  inside  at  the 
same  salary.  The  post-office  would  present  a  strange 
appearance  if  this  system  was  adopted,  for  the  duties  of 
the  office  are  not  learned  in  a  day.  Under  former  admi- 
nistrations it  was  the  chief  object  of  men  in  power  to  pay 
their  employees  living  wages  and  reward  honesty,  sobriety, 
and  attention  to  business  by  preferment.  It  is  not  so  now. 

ONE-CENT  SYSTEM. 

The  law  authorizing  the  free  delivery  of  mail-letters 
and  all  other  mail-matter  by  carriers  took  effect  on  the 


364        DISTRIBUTION  OF  LETTERS  IN  EUROPE. 

first  day  of  July,  1863.     We  much  question  if  the  change 
has  benefited  the  treasury  of  the  department. 

THE  DISTRIBUTION  OF  LETTERS  IN  EUROPE. 

Although  we  have  expressed  a  doubt  in  relation  to  this 
system  with  us,  it  may  not  apply  to  other  countries.  Here 
it  is  expected  that  the  income  of  an  office  will  sustain  its 
owji  expenses,  and  hence  every  postmaster  is  anxious  to 
make  his  report  to  the  department  favorably  to  this 
system.  Carriers  now  receive  a  regular  salary;  before, 
they  depended  in  a  great  measure  on  the  one-cent  system, 
which  lessened  the  department's  expense  for  carriers'  pay 
more  than  one-third  what  it  is  now.  The  one  cent  was 
received  from  the  recipients  of  letters  and  papers,  which 
they  paid  freely,  and  not  unfrequently  made  it  two  when 
they  came  to  settle  with  the  carriers.  Merchants  and 
others  still  consider  the  old  plan  the  best,  having  an  idea 
that  they  are  better  served. 

AUSTRIA. — Brought  to  the  door.  In  all  larger  places, 
without  carrier's  fee;  in  smaller  places  (villages  and  farms), 
a  fee  of  two  kreutzers  (one  cent)  is  charged. 

BELGIUM. — Brought  to  the  door  throughout  the  king 
dom. 

ENGLAND. — By  carriers  without  fee. 

FRANCE. — By  carriers  without  fee  (to  the  door)  in  both 
city  and  country.  Poste  restante  exists  for  letters  so  ad- 
dressed, and  when  the  person's  address  is  not  found. 

HANSEATIC  CITIES — BREMEN. — By  letter-carriers  to 
the  door. 

ITALY. — To  the  door  by  carriers  without  fee. 

THE  NETHERLANDS. — By  carriers  without  fee. 

PRUSSIA. — By  carriers.  In  larger  cities  the  fee  will 
soon  be  abolished  entirely ;  in  the  rural  districts  it  is  six 
pfennige  (about  one  and  a  quarter  cent)  per  letter. 

SWITZERLAND. — By  carriers  without  fee. 


THE  ANDERSONVILLE  POST-  OFFICE.  365 


XIV. 


THE  ANDERSONVILLE  POST-OFFICE. 

THE  following  touching  lines,  by  George  H.  Hoi  lister, 
Esq.,  of  Litchfield,  Connecticut,  are  descriptive  of  an  in- 
cident in  the  pen  of  the  Union  prisoners  at  Anderson  ville, 
Georgia.  The  war  has  elicited  nothing  more  beautiful  in 
description  or  of  sadder  interest  :  — 

"No  blanket  round  his  wasted  limbs, 

Under  the  rainy  sky  he  slept, 
While,  pointing  his  envenom'  d  shafts 

Around  him  Death,  the  archer,  crept. 
He  dream'd  of  hunger,  and  held  out 

His  hand  to  clutch  a  little  bread, 
That  a  white  angel  with  a  torch, 

Among  the  living  and  the  dead, 
Seem'd  bearing,  smiling  as  he  went  : 

The  vision  waked  him,  as  he  spied 
The  post-boy  follow'd  by  a  crowd 

Of  famish'  d  prisoners,  who  cried 
For  letters  —  letters  from  their  friends. 

Crawling  upon  his  hands  and  knees, 
He  hears  his  own  name  call'd,  and,  lo  1 

A  letter  from  his  wife  he  sees  ! 

"Gasping  for  breath,  he  shriek'd  aloud, 

And,  lost  in  nature's  blind  eclipse, 
Faltering  amid  the  suppliant  crowd, 
Caught  it  and  press'd  it  to  his  lips. 
A  guard  who  follow'd,  red  and  wroth, 

And  flourishing  a  rusty  brand, 
Reviled  him  with  a  taunting  oath, 
•     And  snatch'd  the  letter  from  his  hand. 
31* 


366  A  CHAPTER  OF  ACCIDENTS. 

1  First  pay  the  postage,  whining  wretch  !' 

Despair  had  made  the  prisoner  brave : 
'Then  give  me  back  my  money,  sir ! 

I  am  a  captive, — not  a  slave. 
You  took  my  money  and  my  clothes ; 

Take  my  life,  too, — but  let  me  know 
How  Mary  and  the  children  are, 

And  I  will  bless  you  ere  I  go.' 

"The  very  moonlight  through  his  hands, 

As  he  stood  supplicating,  shone, 
And  his  sharp  features  shaped  themselves 

Into  a  prayer,  and  such  a  tone 
Of  anguish  there  was  in  his  cry 

For  wife  and  children,  that  the  guard — 
Thinking  upon  his  own — pass'd  by 

And  left  him  swooning  on  the  sward. 
Beyond  the  '  dead-line'  fell  his  head : 

The  eager  sentry  knew  his  mark, 
And  with  a  crash  the  bullet  sped 

Into  his  brain,  and  all  was  dark. 
But  when  they  turn'd  his  livid  cheek 

Up  toward  the  light,  the  pale  lips  smiled, 
Kissing  a  picture  fair  and  meek 

That  held  in  either  hand  a  child." 

A  CHAPTER  OF  ACCIDENTS. 

"The  Wheeling  Intelligencer"  (1865)  gives  the  follow- 
ing "  chapter  of  accidents :"  it  says, — 

"We  received  a  letter  several  days  ago  from  a  gentle- 
man, enclosing  an  announcement  of  his  marriage,  and 
stating  that  he  had  also  enclosed  the  sum  of  seventy-five 
cents  to  pay  for  it.  The  letter  did  not  enclose  the  money ; 
but  the  next  day  we  got  another  letter  from  the  same 
gentleman,  stating  that  it  had  occurred  to  him,  after  he 
had  mailed  the  first  note,  that  he  had  not  enclosed  the 
money;  'and  I  therefore/  says  the  second  epistle,  ' enclose 
to  you  the  amount ;'  but,  instead  of  seventy-five  cents,  the 
letter  only  contained  twenty-five.  A  day  or  two  after- 
wards we  received  two  more  letters  from  the  same  person, 


THE  PHILADELPHIA  POST-OFFICE.  367 

each  enclosing  fifty  cents.  The  first  of  the  two  letters 
stated  that  the  writer,  having  discovered  his  mistake, 
enclosed  fifty  cents  more  to  make  up  the  amount.  In  the 
second  letter  the  gentleman  says,  that  '  having  learned  that 
the  mail  containing  my  last  letter  was  destroyed  by  fire,  I 
enclose  now  another  fifty  cents/  Our  friend's  singular 
confusion  is  no  doubt  attributable  to  the  fact  which  in 
his  original  note  he  requested  us  to  announce." 

A  SCENE  AT  THE  PHILADELPHIA  POST-OFFICE. 

DIDN'T  LIKE  THE  IDEA. — A  single  female,  apparently 
forty-five  years  of  age,  with  a  very  scraggy  neck  and 
weazened  features,  made  her  appearance  yesterday  after- 
noon at  the  ladies'  window  in  the  post-office. 

"I  want  to  get  back  a  letter." 

"What  for,  madam?" 

"  Why,  I  dropped  it  in  the  box  over  yonder.  I  want 
to  take  it  back  again." 

"  That's  against  our  rules,  ma'am ;  I  am  not  allowed  to 
give  back  a  letter  unless  I  know  all  about  it." 

"Well,  then,  there'll  be  a  fuss  here,  that's  all:  I  want 
my  letter  again." 

"  I'll  call  the  chief  clerk,  then,  ma'am.  You  can  make 
the  fuss  with  him,  if  you  must  have  one." 

Mr.  Booth  was  summoned.  With  his  usual  blandness 
he  asked  the  lady  how  the  letter  was  directed,  and  to 
whom.  He  obtained  a  prompt  reply.  He  found  that 
the  lady  had  dropped  the  letter  into  the  box  under  the 
general  delivery- window.  He  produced  it  from  the  basket 
after  a  little  search,  and  returned  it  to  her.  She  appeared 
considerably  pleased,  brushed  off  the  letter  with  her  hand- 
kerchief, and  at  once  dropped  it  into  the  basket  under 
the  ladies'  window,  before  which  she  was  standing. 

"  Why,  I  thought  you  wanted  to  take  out  the  letter !" 


368  THE  POST  COMES  IN. 

said  Mr.  Booth,  in  some  surprise.  "Here  you've  mailed 
it  again." 

"That's  all  right  now,"  said  the  woman.  "That's  what 
I  wanted.  I  dropped  the  letter  in  the  wrong  place  fust, 
among  the  men's  letters.  I  hate  the  men,  so  I  do.  I 
hain't  goin'  to  have  my  letter  mixed  up  with  men's  letters, 
nohow." 

"You  dislike  the  male  sex  then,  madam?" 

"I  don't  hate  you  mail  folk,  as  I  know  on,  wuss  than 
the  rest  on  'em." 

"I  mean  the  men,  madam;  you  dislike  them?"  said  Mr. 
Booth,  emphasizing  the  title  of  masculinity. 

"  Oh,  the  men !  Of  course  I  hate  'em.  I  wouldn't 
trust  one  of  'em  anigh  me.  They're  a  deceiving 
lyin> » 

How  the  sentence  would  have  been  completed  is  more 
than  we  can  say.  At  this  moment  somebody  trod  upon 
the  tail  of  a  vixenish-looking  dog  that  followed  the  lady, 
and,  as  she  rushed  out,  others  took  her  place  at  the 
window.  Mr.  Booth  feels  nattered  that,  while  hating 
the  male  sex  in  general,  she  doesn't  hate  the  mail  folks 
in  particular. 

THE  POST  COMES  IN. 

BY   WILLIAM    COWPER. 

"Hark!  'tis  the  twanging  horn  o'er  yonder  bridge, 
That  with  its  wearisome  but  needful  length 
Bestrides  the  wintry  flood;  in  which  the  moon 
Sees  her  unwrinkled  face  reflected  bright. 
He  comes,  the  herald  of  a  noisy  world, 
With  spatter'd  boots,  strapp'd  waist,  and  frozen  locks, 
News  from  all  nations  lumb'ring  at  his  back. 
True  to  his  charge,  the  close-pack'd  load  behind. 
Yet  careless  what  he  brings,  his  one  concern 
Is  to  conduct  it  to  the  destined  inn, 
And,  having  dropp'd  the  expected  bag,  pass  on. 
He  whistles  as  he  goes,  light-hearted  wretch, 


WATCH  THE  WASTE  PAPER.  369 

Cold,  and  yet  cheerful;  messenger  of  grief 

Perhaps  to  thousands,  and  of  joy  to  some; 

To  him  indiff'rent  whether  grief  or  joy. 

Houses  in  ashes,  and  the  fall  of  stocks, 

Births,  deaths,  and  marriages,  epistles  wet 

With  tears,  that  trickled  down  the  writer's  cheeks 

Fast  as  the  periods  from  his  fluent  quill, 

Or  charged  with  amorous  sighs  of  absent  swains 

Or  nymphs  responsive,  equally  affect 

His  horse  and  him,  unconscious  of  them  all." 

Ta»k,  Book  IV. 

WATCH  THE  WASTE  PAPER. 

One  of  the  postal  regulations  (sect.  217)  is  as  follows: — 
"The  postmaster,  or  one  of  his  assistants,  in  all  cases, 
immediately  before  the  office  is  swept  or  otherwise  cleared 
of  rubbish,  is  to  collect  and  examine  the  waste  paper 
which  has  accumulated  therein,  in  order  to  guard  against 
the  possibility  of  loss  of  letters  or  other  mail-matter 
which  may  have  fallen  on  the  floor  or  have  been  inter- 
mingled with  such  waste  paper  during  the  transaction  of 
business.  The  observance  of  this  rule  is  strictly  enjoined 
upon  all  postmasters,  and  its  violation  will  constitute  a 
grave  offence.  Postmasters  should  be  careful  to  use,  in 
mailing  letters  or  packets,  all  wrapping-paper  fit  to  be 
used  again;  and  the  sale  of  any  such  paper  is  strictly  for- 
bidden." 

•  A  neglect  of  this  section  might  lead  to  serious  conse- 
quences, inasmuch  as  letters  are  continually  falling  from 
the  tables  and  trays  to  the  floor,  and,  unless  looked  after, 
would  unquestionably  find  their  way  to  the  "waste-bags." 
The  proprietor  of  a  paper-mill  informed  us  that  one 
of  the  girls  employed  by  him  in  separating  the  waste 
paper  purchased  from  postmasters  had  found  several 
letters,  one  of  which  contained  $30  in  Treasury  notes,  and 
another  contained  a  note  for  $500  and  an  order  to  cancel 
stamp  placed  upon  a  note  since  it  was  signed,  as  stamps 


370  COMPLAINTS  ABOUT  MISTAKES. 

could  not  be  obtained  at  the  place  where  the  note  was 
signed. 

The  above  letters  had  been  thrown  into  the  waste  paper 
by  some  careless  postmaster  or  clerks,  and  sold  at  two  and 
a  half  cents  per  pound;  and  some  other  postmaster  or 
clerks  have  been  under  suspicion  of  committing  a  depre- 
dation upon  those  letters ;  and  had  this  girl  been  dishonest 
they  might  never  have  been  able  to  convince  the  parties 
interested  of  their  innocence. 

This  is  inexcusable  carelessness;  and  postmasters  who 
read  this  article  should  see  that  they  or  their  clerks  are 
not  caught  in  this  way. 

SEALING-WAX. 

Under  no  circumstances  use  sealing-wax  for  postal  pur- 
poses. Wax  should  only  be  used  for  letters  or  documents 
when  a  person  is  anxious  to  display  his  seal  or  coat  of 
arms,  or  where  it  may  be  required  for  a  legal  purpose,  and 
only  then  when  they  are  more  effectually  secured. 

The  practice  of  sealing  letters  passing  more  particularly 
through  warm  climates  with  wax  is  attended  with  much  in- 
convenience, and  frequently  with  serious  injury,  not  only 
to  the  letters  so  sealed,  but  to  the  other  letters  in  the  mail, 
from  the  melting  of  the  wax  and  adhesion  of  the  letters 
to  each  other.  The  public  are,  therefore,  recommended  in 
all  such  cases  to  use  either  wafers  or  gum,  and  to  advise 
their  correspondents  in  the  countries  referred  to  to  do  the 
same. 

English  newspapers — indeed,  nearly  all  European  printed 
matter — come  to  us  sealed  with  bad  wax;  and  if  many  of 
them  were  not  secured  by  thread,  few  would,  ever  reach 
the  parties  to  whom  they  are  addressed. 

COMPLAINTS  ABOUT  MISTAKES. 

When  complaint  is  made  of  letters  or  newspapers  lost, 


A  LAW  CASK  371 

miscarried,  or  delayed,  to  furnish  information  as  precise  as 
possible  regarding  all  the  facts  of  the  case,  and  to  enclose 
whatever  documents  may  throw  light  upon  it.  The  day 
and  hour  at  which  the  letter  or  newspaper  was  posted,  as 
well  as  the  office  at  which  and  the  person  by  whom  this 
was  done,  should  always  be  stated,  and,  when  possible,  the 
cover  or  wrapper,  in  an  entire  state,  should  be  sent,  in  order 
that  the  place  of  delay  may  be  ascertained  by  an  examina- 
tion of  the  stamps.  Cases  frequently  occur  in  which  com- 
plaint is  made  against  the  post-office  and  redress  expected, 
although  little  or  no  means  of  tracing  the  error  and  of 
guarding  against  a  repetition  of  it  is  supplied  by  those 
who  alone  are  able  to  do  so. 

A  LAW  CASE. 

In  1806  a  case  was  tried  in  the  District  Court  of  Mary- 
land, "United  States  vs.  Barney,"  which  we  deem  essen- 
tial to  the  nature  of  our  work. 

"  WINCHESTER,  J. — The  indictment  in  this  case,  which 
charges  the  defendant  with  having  wilfully  obstructed  the 
passage  of  the  public  mail  at  Susquehanna  River,  is 
founded  on  the  act  of  Congress  of  March,  1799. 

"The  defendant  sets  up  as  a  defence  and  justification  of 
this  obstruction  of  the  mail  that  he  had  fed  the  horses 
employed  in  carrying  the  mail  for  a  considerable  time,  and 
that  a  sum  of  money  was  due  to  him  for  food  furnished 
at  and  before  the  time  of  their  arrest  and  detention. 

"On  this  state  of  the  facts,  two  questions  have  been 
agitated : — 

"1st,  Whether  the  right  of  an  innkeeper  to  detain  a 
horse  for  his  food  extends  to  horses  owned  by  individuals 
and  employed  in  the  transportation  of  the  public  mail. 
And, 

"  2d,  Whether  such  right  extends  to  horses  belonging  to 
the  United  States,  employed  in  that  service. 


372  A  LAW  CASE. 

"  The  first  question  involves  the  consideration  of  prin- 
ciples of  some  extent,  and  to  decide  correctly  on  the  second 
it  may  be  necessary  to  state  them  generally. 

"Lien  is  generally  defined  to  be  a  tie,  hold,  or  security 
upon  goods  or  other  things  which  a  man  has  in  his  cus- 
tody, till  he  is  paid  what  is  due  to  him.  From  this  defi- 
nition it  is  apparent  that  there  can  be  no  lien  where  the 
property  is  annihilated  or  the  possession  parted  with 
voluntarily  and  without  fraud.  2  Vern.  117;  1  Atk.  234. 

"The  claim  of  a  lien  otherwise  well  founded  cannot  be 
supported  if  there  is — 

"1st,  A  particular  agreement  made  and  relied  on. 
Bayer's  Rep.  224;  2  R.  A.  92.  Or, 

"  2d,  Where  the  particular  transaction  shows  that  there 
was  no  intention  that  there  should  be  a  lien,  but  some 
other  security  is  looked  to  and  relied  upon.  4  Burr.  2223. 

"  If,  therefore,  in  this  case  the  agreement  between  the  de- 
fendant and  the  public  agent  actually  was  that  he  should  be 
paid  for  feeding  the  public  horses  on  as  low  terms  as  any 
other  person  on  the  road  would  supply  them,  he  could  not 
justify  detaining  the  horses;  for  the  particular  agreement 
thus  made,  and  under  which  the  food  was  furnished,  is  the 
foundation  of  the  remedy  of  the  defendant,  and  it  can  be 
pursued  in  no  other  manner  than  upon  that  agreement. 
Or,  if  there  was  no  particular  agreement,  this  case  is  such 
that  between  the  defendant  and  a  private  owner  of  horses 
and  carriages  employed  in  transporting  the  mail  I  incline 
to  think  it  could  not  legally  be  presumed  a  lien  was  ever 
intended  or  contemplated.  A  carrier  of  the  mail  is  bound 
not  to  delay  its  delivery,  under  severe  penalties ;  and  it  can 
scarcely  be  supposed  that  he  would  expose  himself  to  the 
penalty  for  such  delay  by  leaving  his  horses  subject  to 
the  arrest  of  every  innkeeper  on  the  road  for  their  food, 
or  that  in  such  case  the  innkeeper  could  look  to  any  other 
security  than  the  personal  credit  of  the  owner  of  the  horses 


POSTAGE-STAMPS.  373 

for  reimbursement.  But  the  law  on  such  a  case  could  be 
only  declared  on  facts  admitted  by  the  parties  or  found  by 
the  jury,  and  is  not  now  before  the  court. 

"  3d,  The  great  question  in  this  case  rests  on  a  discrimi- 
nation between  the  property  of  the  government  and  indi- 
viduals." 

After  defining  the  constitutional  rights  of  the  govern- 
ment and  its  general  power  to  lay  and  collect  taxes,  duties, 
imposts,  and  excise,  to  pay  the  debts  and  provide  for  the 
common  defence  and  general  welfare  of  the  United  States, 
and  quoting  numerous  authorities,  the  judge  concludes 
with  the  following: — 

"A  stolen  horse  found  in  the  mail-stage.  The  owner 
cannot  seize  him. 

"The  driver  being  in  debt,  or  even  committing  an 
offence,  can  only  be  arrested  in  such  way  as  does  not 
obstruct  the  passage  of  the  mail. 

"These  examples  are  as  strong  as  any  which  are  likely 
to  occur;  but  even  these  are  not  excepted  by  the  statute; 
and  probably  considerations  of  the  extreme  importance  to 
the  government  and  individuals  of  the  regular  transmis- 
sion of  public  despatches  and  private  communications  may 
have  excluded  these  exceptions.  But  whatever  may  have 
been  the  policy  which  led  to  the  adoption  of  the  law, 
which  the  court  will  not  inquire  into,  it  totally  prohibits 
any  obstruction  to  the  passage  of  the  mail.  It  is  the  duty 
of  the  court  to  expound  and  execute  the  law,  and  there- 
fore I  am  of  opinion  and  decide  that  the  defendant  is  not 
justified." 

POST  A  GE-STAMPS. 

Connected  with  stamps,  whether  used  as  a  currency  or 
for  the  increase  of  revenue,  there  are  many  curious  and 
interesting  circumstances.  The  idea  of  producing  a  reve- 
nue by  the  sale  of  stamps  and  stamped  paper  in  America 
was  promulgated  almost  forty  years  before  its  final  develop- 

32 


374  POSTAGE-STAMPS. 

ment  in  legislative  enactment  in  1765.  Sir  William  Keith 
advised  the  policy  as  early  as  1728.  In  1739  the  London 
merchants  advised  the  ministry  to  adopt  the  measure,  and 
public  writers  from  time  to  time  suggested  various  schemes 
predicated  upon  the  same  idea.  In  1770,  Douglas,  in  his 
work  on  "British  America/7  recommended  the  levying  of 
a  stamp  duty  upon  all  legal  writings  and  instruments. 
Dr.  Franklin  regarded  the  plan  favorably,  and  Governor 
Sharpe,  of  Maryland,  was  confident  in  1754  that  Par- 
liament would  speedily  make  a  statute  for  raising  money 
by  means  of  stamp  duties.  Lieutenant-Governor  Delan- 
cey  spoke  in  favor  of  it  in  the  New  York  Assembly  in 
1755,  and  the  following  year  Governor  Shirley,  of  Mas- 
sachusetts, urged  Parliament  to  adopt  a  stamp  tax.  The 
British  press  urged  the  measure  in  1757,  and  it  was 
confidently  stated  that  at  least  three  hundred  thousand 
dollars  annually  might  thus  be  drawn  from  the  colonies 
without  the  tax  being  sensibly  felt.  The  tax  bill  became 
a  law  in  1765  and  was  repealed  in  1766.  Had  not  minis- 
ters been  deceived  by  the  representations  of  the  stupid  and 
selfish  governors  in  America,  it  probably  would  never 
have  been  enacted.  Those  men  were  frequently  too  indo- 
lent or  indifferent  to  make  themselves  acquainted  with  the 
real  temper  of  the  people.  Regarding  the  mass  as  equally 
servile  as  their  flatterers,  they  readily  commended  that 
fatal  measure  which  proved  the  spark  that  lighted  the 
flame  of  the  Revolution  and  severed  forever  the  political 
connection  between  Great  Britain  and  the  thirteen  Ame- 
rican colonies.  The  stamp  so  carefully  and  so  artistically 
prepared,  bearing  upon  its  imposing  front  the  crown  and  its 
motto,  "  Honi  soil  qui  mat  y  pense"  and  intended  to  enhance 
the  power  and  might  of  kingly  rule,  sealed  the  doom  of 
monarchy  in  the  colonies  forever! 

The  use  of  stamps,  however,  apart  from  tax  purposes, 
is  not  of  modern  invention,  but  for  postal  purposes  they 


POSTA  GE-  STA  MPS.  375 

bear  date  quite  recent.  Stamps  of  one  penny  and  twopence 
each  were  first  introduced  in  England  on  the  6th  of  May, 
1840. 

When  Victoria  succeeded  to  the  British  crown — mid- 
summer, 1837 — there  were  eleven  thousand  parishes  in 
England  and  Wales,  and  only  three  thousand  post-offices. 
A  fourth  of  the  population  were  entirely  destitute  of 
postal  accommodation.  Four  hundred  of  the  registration 
districts,  the  average  extent  of  which  was  nearly  twenty 
square  miles,  were  without  a  post-office.  In  1839  the 
number  of  chargeable  letters  was  in  the  proportion  of  four 
a  year  to  each  person  of  the  population  of  England  and 
Wales,  three  in  Scotland,  and  one  in  Ireland.  In  1864 
the  proportion  of  letters  is  twenty-four  a  year  to  each  of 
the  population  of  England  and  Wales,  nineteen  in  Scot- 
land, and  nine  to  Ireland.  The  increase  from  76,000,000 
letters  in  1849  to  600,000,000  in  1864  is  really  an  increase 
of  nearly  seven  hundred  per  cent.  A  stamped  envelope  was 
used  at  first  (consisting  of  a  very  absurd  allegorical  group, 
said  to  have  been  improved  by  Mulready,  the  eminent 
painter,  from  a  drawing  by  Queen  Victoria  herself!) ;  but 
this  was  superseded,  in  a  few  months,  by  a  stamp  called 
pulsory  prepayment,  which  was  begun  in  England,  has 
become  the  rule  in  the  many  countries  which  have  adopted 
HilFs  postal  reform.  This  reform,  which  went  into  ope- 
ration in  England  on  January  10,  1840,  was  not  adopted 
in  the  United  States  until  July  1,  1845. 

Perhaps  no  country  in  the  world  has  ever  yet  produced 
such  a  number  of  stamps  as  the  United  States  of  America. 
Foreign  nations  limit  their  postal  stamps;  we  issue  them 
in  quantity  and  variety  to  meet  the  demands  of  the  public 
without  stint  or  hindrance.  The  denominations  of  postal 
stamps  in  the  United  States  are  1  cent,  2  cent,  3  cent,  5 
cent,  10  cent,  12  cent,  24  cent,  30  cent,  and  90  cent. 


376  POSTAGE-STAMPS. 

The   amount  of    stamps   and   stamp-envelopes 
issued  during  the  year  1860,  ending  June  30, 

was $6,870,316  19 

Total  amount  for  1861 6,690,233  70 

«   1862 7,078,18800 

«          "         «   1863 9,683,38400 

«          »         "1864 10,974,32950 

The  postage-stamp  system  has  been  adopted  in  all  parts 
of  the  world,  by  over  ninety  different  kingdoms,  states, 
provinces,  colonies,  islands,  and  free  cities, — in  fifty  different 
parts  of  Europe,  in  over  a  dozen  parts  of  Asia,  including 
China,  in  some  twenty  parts  of  the  New  World,  in  every 
province  of  British  North  America,  in  seven  parts  of 
Africa,  and  even  in  St.  Helena  on  one  side  and  the  Sand- 
wich Islands  on  the  other.  There  are  postage-stamps  used 
in  Ceylon ;  but  the  Japanese  have  not  as  yet  arrived  at 
that  period  in  perfection  which  would  lead  them  towards 
its  attainment. 

The  stamps  of  the  secessionists  command  a  high  price 
in  foreign  markets, — probably  as  much  for  their  having 
the  head  of  "Jeff  Davis"  on  them  than  for  any  artistic 
skill  or  beauty  attached  to  them.  When  the  rebellion 
broke  out,  of  course  a  line  was  drawn  between  the  two 
sections  of  our  country,  leaving  the  South  in  possession 
of  slavery  and  its  fruits,  and  the  North,  with  its  vast 
amount  of  wealth,  intellect,  and  artistic  power,  to  contend 
against  the  world.  Of  course  the  South,  heretofore  de- 
pendent on  the  North  for  every  thing  genius,  art,  and 
skill  produced,  found  they  could  not  have  a  stamp  cut 
that  would  even  do  credit  to  their  bogus  government. 
The  first  ones  produced  presented  a  most  counterfeit-like 
appearance  of  something  once  belonging  to  art:  even  Jeff 
Davis  became  ashamed  of  them,  and  he  applied  to  his 
good  friend  and  secret  ally,  Napoleon  of  France,  for 
assistance.  Something  better  was  produced  by  a  French 
artist;  and  thus  the  stamps  came  over  with  a  variety  of 


POSTA  GE- STAMPS.  377 

other  things  to  strengthen  the  Southern  Confederacy  and 
assist  her  in  maintaining  something  of  the  appearance  of 
a  people  who  could  claim  some  consideration  among  other 
advanced  nations  of  the  world. 

Connected  with  the  issue  of  postal  stamps  is  that  strange 
mania  which  seizes  upon  a  certain  class  to  collect  and 
treasure  up  every  thing  that  is  termed  unique  or  new  in 
art  or  science.  These  stamps  in  time  will  become  relics, 
and  possess  an  interest  for  the  antiquarian  equal  to  that 
of  old  coins. 

To  such  ah  extent  is  this  passion  carried,  that  in  Europe 
cabinets  are  formed  and  albums  invented  wherein  these 
stamps  are  fancifully  arranged.  In  many  instances  men 
make  such  collections  a  matter  of  business,  and  these  re- 
ceptacles for  stamps  bring  very  high  prices, — in  fact,  like 
old  coins,  many  of  them  command  fabulous  prices.  The 
collection  of  these  miniature  paper  currency  circulating 
mediums  is  decidedly  a  British  institution.  Periodicals 
devoted  to  the  interest  of  dealers  are  established  in  various 
parts  of  the  kingdom,  and  agents  employed,  not  only  to 
furnish  information  upon  the  subject  of  new  issues,  but  to 
procure  various  stamps  for  orders.  The  demand  in  Eng- 
land for  American  stamps  is  greaf,  and  they  command — 
more  particularly  those  of  the  Southern  Confederacy — 
very  high  prices. 

We  have  no  objection  to  this,  although  a  strange  fancy 
on  the  part  of  those  who  are  seized  with  the  mania,  be- 
cause it  opens  a  new  trade  for  the  enterprising  speculator 
on  the  infirmity  of  human  nature.  A  house  in  New  York 
advertises  for  "correspondents  all  over  the  world,"  for 
furnishing  and  supplying  it  with  stamp  news.  Another 
in  Montreal  advertises  "  stamps  cheaper  than  ever :"  these 
consist  of  foreign,  British  colonial,  and  European  stamps 
of  all  kinds.  The  number  of  North  American  is  enu- 
merated at  fifty  varieties. 

32* 


378  POSTAGE-STAMPS. 

Connected,  however,  with  the  various  stamps  now  in 
use  in  this  country  is  the  necessity  of  teaching  to  our 
youth  their  use  and  application  to  banks,  custom-houses, 
railroads,  post-offices,  pawnbrokers,  and,  in  fact,  as  stamp 
tax  to  every  trade,  business,  and  department  of  govern- 
ment. 

In  several  of  our  commercial  colleges  an  actual  stamp 
department  is  invented,  and  mock-banks,  custom-houses, 
steamboat-offices,  post-offices,  &c.,  are  fitted  up  for  the  pur- 
pose of  familiarizing  youth  with  their  use  in  the  various 
mercantile  and  governmental  departments  of  the  country. 
This  is  what  we  term  the  best  and  most  useful  knowledge 
that  the  stamps  can  impart  to  those  who  are  so  anxious  to 
treasure  them  up  in  albums  and  cabinets.* 

We  annex  the  following  article  from  Appleton's  "  United 
States  Postal  Guide"  [1864]:— 

"By  the  Sonora,  a  few  days  since,  says  a  Californian 
correspondent,  some  two  hundred  of  Uncle  Sam's  orphans 
arrived,  and  were  distributed  around.  Some  were  sent  to 
Fort  Alcastra,  some  to  the  barracks  at  the  Presidio,  and 
the  remainder  were  quartered  at  Benicia  barracks,  pre- 
paratory to  being  assigned  to  the  different  companies  of 
the  regiments  in  this  department.  They  will  soon  be 
scattered  from  Oregon  to  that  most  delightful  post,  Fort 
Yuma,  in  Arizona, — a  place  where  they  have  to  put  rocks 
on  the  roofs  to  keep  the  ends  of  the  boards  from  curling 
over  like  little  dogs7  tails.  It  is  a  wretched  place  to  live 
at,  and  to  be  ordered  there  is  enough  to  make  any  officer 
resign,  unless  a  Catholic,  who  acknowledges  the  justice  of 
being  sent  to  purgatory.  They  have  a  little  fun  even  in 
that  awful  place  sometimes,  and  an  officer  was  telling  me 

*  There  is  a  small  paper  published  in  Albany,  New  York,  entitled 
the  "Stamp  Collector's  Record."  It  is  entirely  devoted  to  the  cause 
of  stamps  and  their  collectors.  It  furnishes  also  considerable  informa- 
tion upon  the  subject  in  connection  with  foreign  stamps. 


POSTAGE-STAMPS.  379 

the  other  day  of  how  he  lost  his  postage-stamps.  He  had 
sent  up  here  for  some  twenty  dollars'  worth,  and  had  left 
them  on  his  table.  Now,  the  habits,  manners,  and  cus- 
toms thereabouts  are  considerably  on  the  free-and-easy 
style,  and  the  Indians  are  allowed  to  roam  around  the 
garrison  ad  libitum,  if  they  behave  themselves  and  do  not 
steal.  On  this  occasion  a  young  squaw,  who  had  the  run 
of  the  quarters,  and  was  very  much  at  home  anywhere 
and  everywhere,  happened  to  stray  into  my  friend's  room, 
and,  seeing  the  postage-stamps,  began  to  examine  them 
with  great  curiosity.  She  discovered  they  would  stick  if 
wet,  and  forthwith  a  happy  idea  struck  her.  Now,  the 
fashionable  dress  of  the  ladies  of  her  class  in  that  warm 
climate  is  of  the  briefest  description.  She  was  ambitious 
to  dress  up  and  excite  the  envy  of  the  other  Pocahontases. 
So  she  went  in  on  the  postal  currency,  and,  much  to  the 
astonishment  of  the  garrison,  made  her  appearance  pre- 
sently on  the  parade-ground  entirely  covered  over  with 
postage-stamps.  She  was  stuck  all  over  with  Benjamin 
Franklin,  and  the  Father  of  his  Country  was  plastered 
all  over  her  ladyship's  glossy  skin  indiscriminately,  regard- 
less of  dignity  and  decency.  The  'roar'  that  greeted  her, 
from  the  commanding  officer  down  to  the  drummer-boys, 
was  loud  enough  to  be  heard  nearly  at  head-quarters  in 
San  Francisco ;  but,  Indian-like,  she  preserved  her  equa- 
nimity, and  did  not  seem  at  all  disconcerted,  but  sailed  off 
with  the  air  and  step  of  a  genuine  princess,  while  my 
friend  rushed  into  his  quarters  to  discover  himself  minus 
his  twenty  dollars'  worth  of  postage-stamps,  and  that  what 
was  intended  for  the  mail  had  been  appropriated  to  the 
female.  She  might  have  been  put  in  the  overland  coach 
and  gone  through :  she  certainly  could  not  have  been 
stopped  for  want  of  being  prepaid." 


380  REPORT  OF  MR.  GEORGE  PLITT. 


REPORT  OF  MR.  GEORGE  PLITT. 

Amos  Kendall,  postmaster-general  from  1835  to  1840, 
anxious  to  have  the  postal  department  as  perfect  as  human 
efforts  can  avail  towards  such  a  state  of  things,  sent  the 
gentleman  whose  name  heads  this  article  to  Europe  for 
the  purpose  of  adding  to  our  store  of  knowledge  on  postal 
matters.  Mr.  Plitt  was  well  calculated  for  this  mission, 
having  served  seven  years  in  the  New  York  post-office, 
and  was  familiar  with  its  operations.  He  left  New  York 
in  the  month  of  June,  1839,  and  returned  in  August,  1840, 
after  having  visited  "the  post-office  departments  of  Eng- 
land, Scotland,  France,  Belgium,  Saxony,  Prussia,  Austria, 
Bavaria,  Wirtemberg,  Baden,  and  the  free  Hanseatic  cities 
of  Frankfort,  Hamburg,  Bremen,  and  Lubeck." 

Among  other  reforms  and  suggestions  made  in  Mr. 
Plitt's  report  are  the  abolition  of  the  franking  privilege, 
the  prepayment  of  all  letters,  as  well  as  of  newspapers 
and  all  printed  matter.  He  strongly  urges  the  reduction 
of  postage,  and  quotes  the  English  postal  law  as  an  evi- 
dence of  its  pecuniary  advantages.  As  many  of  the  re- 
forms suggested,  based  on  the  European  system,  have  been 
introduced  into  ours,  and  nearly  every  other  improvement 
carried  into  the  department,  it  is  not  necessary  for  us  here 
to  name  them ;  but,  at  the  same  time,  it  is  due  to  Mr. 
Plitt  to  state  that  his  report  met  with  a  cordial  response 
from  the  department,  whose  instructions  he  had  so  ably 
carried  out,  and  whose  ideas  on  and  about  foreign  mail 
arrangements  afforded  it  an  opportunity  to  improve  those 
of  our  own. 

He  also  suggested  the  establishing  special  agents  and 
mail-guards.  In  Europe  they  form  a  prominent  feature 
in  their  system ;  but  as  regards  the  necessity  of  the  latter 
in  this  country,  we  doubt  if  their  services  would  be  re- 
quired, unless  in  time  of  war,  frontier  insurrections,  or 


REPORT  OF  MR.  GEORGE  PLITT.  381 

disgraceful  rebellions,  such  as  a  vile  portion  of  the  land 
had  inaugurated,  and  over  whose  downfall  and  ruin  our 
nation's  flag  is  now  proudly  uprising.  It  will  float  again, 
— float  in  its  might  and  power  over  every  foot  of  land 
that  Columbia  calls  her  own ;  but  not  until 

"  Bold  rebellion's  blood  has  all  been  drain'd." 

The  subject  of  the  reduction  of  postage  had  been  agi- 
tated in  Congress  before  Mr,  Plitt's  visit  to  Europe.  In 
1836,  Edward  Everett  proposed  measures  for  that  pur- 
pose, but  no  well-digested  plan  was  brought  forward. 
There  was  no  Benjamin  Franklin  there  to  propose  one.  In 
1843,  three  years  after  Mr.  Plitt's  return  from  Europe, 
the  general  discontent  of  the  people  on  the  subject  of 
postage  was  expressed  in  the  form  of  resolutions  by  the 
legislatures  of  several  States,  instructing  their  Senators 
and  requesting  their  Representatives  in  Congress  to  take 
some  measures  for  a  reduction.  Mr.  C.  A.  Wickliffe,  at 
that  time  postmaster-general,  made  some  investigation  in 
regard  to  the  English  system,  and  in  an  elaborate  report 
advocated  some  reduction,  but  not  a  radical  one,  on  the 
ground  that  the  department  would  become  a  heavy  charge 
upon  the  government  if  large  reductions  were  made.  Sub- 
sequent reductions  far  greater  than  those  proposed  at  that 
period  show  how  much  the  postmaster-general  and  those 
who  sustained  him  in  this  idea  were  mistaken.  It  was 
not  until  1845  that  Congress  was  enabled  to  pass  a  bill  for 
a  reduction.  March  3, 1845,  a  bill  was  passed,  which  went 
into  operation  July  1,  1845.  Its  rates  were  as  follows : — 
for  a  letter  not  exceeding  a  half-ounce  in  weight,  whether 
of  one  or  more  pieces  of  paper,  under  three  hundred  miles, 
five  cents;  over  three  hundred  miles,  ten  cents,  and  an 
additional  rate  for  every  additional  half-ounce  or  fraction 
of  a  half-ounce.  Advertised  letters,  two  cents ;  pamphlets, 
magazines,  &c.,  per  ounce,  two  cents,  and  each  additional 


382  ENGLISH  POST-OFFICE. 

ounce,  one  cent.  Newspapers,  under  thirty  miles,  free; 
over  thirty  and  under  one  hundred,  or  any  distance  within 
the  State  where  published,  one  cent;  over  one  hundred 
and  out  of  the  State,  one  and  a  half  cent.  At  various 
periods  since,  changes  have  been  made,  until  it  is  now 
reduced  to  a  system  based  on  the  lowest  rates,  which 
under  proper  and  efficient  management  must,  and  no 
doubt  will,  result  in  self-sustaining  the  department:  cer- 
*tain  abuses  have  of  course  to  be  corrected. 

ENGLISH  POST-OFFICE. 

Mr.  Plitt  states  in  his  report  that  the  number  of  persons 
employed  in  the  English  post-office,  London,  is  one  thou- 
sand nine  hundred  and. three.*  This  number  comprises 
all  the  letter-carriers  and  receivers  employed  within  a 
circle  of  twelve  miles  from  the  post-office.  In  this  circle 
letters  are  delivered  at  the  residence  of  the  person  ad- 
dressed and  taken  up  from  the  receiving-houses  five  times 
per  day.  There  is  besides  an  inner  circle  of  three  miles 
from  the  post-office,  within  which  there  are  seven  deliver- 
ies per  day,  and  also  seven  collections  from  the  receiving- 
houses,  to  go  by  the  general  post,  as  late  as  five  o'clock  p.  M.f 

*  The  number  of  individuals  employed  in  the  English  post-office  is 
very  considerable.  On  the  31st  of  December,  1857,  it  gave  employment 
to  twenty-three  thousand  seven  hundred  and  thirty-one  persons,  while 
the  number  has  been  since  considerably  increased.  More  than  two 
thousand  of  these  clerks  are  employed  in  the  chief  office  in  London. 
The  number  of  persons  employed  in  the  post-office  of  France  amounts 
to  twenty-six  thousand  and  seventy-one ;  but  then  it  should  be  remem- 
bered that  the  extent  and  population  of  France  are  greater  than  the 
extent  and  population  of  Great  Britain. 

•j-  It  may  be  added  here  that  these  deliveries  are  distinct  from  what 
is  termed  the  "general  delivery."  As  all  the  principal  mails  arrive  in 
L'ondon  in  the  morning,  there  are  but  three  deliveries  a  day  by  the 
carriers  of  the  general  post.  These  carriers  are  distinguished  from 
those  belonging  to  the  two-penny  post  or  city  delivery  by  wearing  the 
livery  of  the  department,  viz.:  a  scarlet  coat  with  a  blue  collar,  and 
buttons  stamped  with  an  impression  of  the  royal  arms. 


INDECENT  POSTAL  MATTER.  383 

FRANKING  PRIVILEGE. 

"  This  privilege  is  entirely  abolished  under  the  late  new 
law.  Members  of  Parliament,  even  before  the  law  was 
passed,  were  restricted  as  to  the  number  of  letters  they 
were  allowed  to  frank,  and  were,  besides,  obliged  to  put 
the  day  of  the  month  .upon  each  letter  franked  by  them." 
The  privilege,  however,  was  not  entirely  abolished,  inas- 
much as  it  was  granted  to  the  Minister  of  Finance  and 
some  of  his  agents. 

PENNY  POSTAGE. 

Stamps  of  one  penny  and  twopence  each  were  first  in- 
troduced on  the  6th  of  May,  1840,  and  since  that  period 
there  has  been  an  increase  of  nearly  three  hundred  thou- 
sand letters.  Mr.  Plitt  strongly  advocates  the  cheap 
postage  system. 

LETTER-CARRIERS  IN  PA RIS.      ' 

In  Paris,  where  there  are  six  deliveries  of  the  "Petite 
Poste"*  per  day,  the  carriers  of  the  General  and  "Petite 
Poste"  letters  are  the  same.  In  a  report  made  by  Row- 
land Hill  on  the  French  post-office,  in  October,  1839, 
speaking  of  this  plan,  he  says,  "The  plan  of  employing 
one  set  of  letter-carriers  for  the  delivery  of  all  letters 
appears  to  work  exceedingly  well  in  Paris.  All  that  I 
heard  and  saw  in  Paris  tends  to  confirm  the  opinion  I 
have  already  expressed,  that  great  convenience  and  economy 
would  result  from  the  union  of  the  two  bodies  in  London." 

INDECENT  POSTAL  MATTER. 

"SEC.  16.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  no  obscene 
book,  pamphlet,  picture,  print,  or  other  publication  of  a 
vulgar  and  indecent  character  shall  be  admitted  into  the 
mails  of  the  United  States;  and  any  person  or  persons 
who  shall  deposit  or  cause  to  be  deposited  in  any  post- 


384  INDECENT  POSTAL  MATTER. 

office  or  branch  post-office  of  the  United  States,  for  mail- 
ing or  for  delivery,  an  obscene  book,  pamphlet,  picture, 
print,  or  other  publication,  knowing  the  same  to  be  of  a 
vulgar  and  indecent  character,  shall  be  deemed  guilty  of  a 
misdemeanor,  and,  being  duly  convicted  thereof,  shall  for 
every  such  offence  be  fined  not  more  than  five  hundred 
dollars,  or  imprisoned  not  more  than  one  year,  or  both, 
according  to  the  circumstances  and  aggravations  of  the 
offence.7' 

Apart  from  this  act,  there  is  an  understanding  between 
the  postmaster-general  and  postmasters  generally  relative 
to  obscene  and  vulgar  postal  matter.  So  far  as  the  secrets 
of  the  office  are  concerned,  that  understanding  is  "contra- 
band." But  this  is  not  sufficient.  If  the  post-office  is  to 
be  used  as  the  medium  through  which  .the  vilest  works  of 
art  pass  so  readily,  and  calculated  to  corrupt  the  innocent 
and  excite  the  passions  of  youth  by  high-colored  pictures, 
the  public,  at  least,  should  know  how  and  why  so  many 
reach  the  persons  to  whom  they  are  directed,  and  to  what 
extent  this  espionage  extends.  It  would  require  no  breach 
of  the  observance  of  postal  rules  to  ascertain  almost  at  a 
glance  the  nature  of  the  book  or  picture  which  comes 
under  the  head  of  "indecent  postal  matter."  These  pub- 
lications, varying  in  accordance  to  the  artistic  taste  of  the 
originators,  pass  through  the  office  in  the  shape  of  splendid 
photograph  albums,  handsomely-bound  books,  embossed 
prints,  transparent  cards,  and  "yellow-cover  pamphlets," 
d  la  Dr.  Young,  and  photograph  cards  of  a  most  indecent 
character.  At  other  times  they  are  posted  as  letters,  ad- 
dressed chiefly  to  young  ladies,  containing  a  card  and 
making  the  most  dishonorable  proposals.  In  several 
instances  the  parents  have  shown  the  author  these  letters, 
and  upon  a  close  examination  he  feels  satisfied  that  the 
only  motive  the  writer  had  was  to  corrupt  and  demoralize, 
without  the  most  distant  idea  of  ever  reaping  the  fruits 


INDECENT  POSTAL  MATTER.  385 

of  his  villany.  The  imagination  cannot  conceive  or  pencil 
paint  a  more  hideous  picture  of  a  fiend  than  one  who 
would  thus  attempt  to  corrupt  the  young  and  innocent  by 
such  means.  The  idea  could  only  have  been  suggested  by 
the  devil,  and  as  readily  carried  out  by  his  agent.  Artists 
of  well-known  reputation  lend  themselves  to  this  work 
of  destruction;  and  specimens  denote  the  highest  order  of 
talent,  as  well  as  the  most  exquisite  workmanship  of 
art, — art  devoted  to  the  production  of  the  most  vulgar 
and  disgusting  subjects  the  human  mind  ever  conceived 
or  a  diseased  imagination  conjured.  That  very  intellect 
which  should  have  shed  a  halo  over  the  pure  things  of 
earth  is  here  devoted  to  the  production  of  things  evil. 

A  tendency  to  sap  the  foundation  upon  which  rest  the 
pillars  of  morality,  and  to  poison  the  minds  of  youth, 
seems  to  be  a  prevailing  vice.  High  literary  attainments, 
great  mental  powers,  have  been  brought  into  the  arena  to 
battle  for  crime,  lasciviousness,  and  vice.  In  all  ages  the 
vile  corruption  of  man's  nature,  aided  by  genius  and 
talent,  has  been  manifested  in  the  production  of  things 
evil.  The  rapid  and,  we  may  say,  alarming  increase  of 
crime,  the  callousness  manifested  at  the  recital  of  human 
suffering,  the  want,  or,  rather,  the  absence,  of  a  correct 
moral  standard  in  every  thing  appertaining  to  social  life, 
the  sneering  at  the  tenets  of  our  holy  religion,  the  assump- 
tion as  it  were  of  omniscient  powers  on  the  part  of  sinful 
men,  have  led  to  a  state  of  things  which  will  require 
stronger  measures  than  that  of  mere  reasoning  to  remedy. 

Our  streets  of  a  night  are  flooded  with  the  daughters 
of  vice ;  temples  are  dedicated  to  licentiousness,  sanctioned 
by  the  authorities,  who  grant  them  "license"  as  it  were 
to  corrupt  youth  and  demoralize  the  masses.  Intempe- 
rance and  pauperism  are  the  results  of  the  "  law's  license" 
to  common  crime.  Thus  the  dark  shadow  of  vice  ex- 
tends its  fatal  power  over  that  portion  of  the  human 

33 


386  ESPIONAGE  OVER  THE  POST-OFFICE. 

family  from  whose  domestic  circle  the  voice  of  prayer 
never  ascends.  There  instead  is  heard  the  sound  of  rat- 
tling glasses:  loud  oaths,  the  bacchanalian  song,  there 
throw  around  the  circle  of  which  they  form  the  nucleus 
an  atmosphere  to  poison  and  destroy.  Much  of  all  this 
can  be  traced  to  the  estimate  men  place  upon  the  modern 
mode  of  education.  If  genius  invents  something  that 
places  vice  in  a  brilliant  light,  in  and  through  which  all 
that  is  startling  in  picture-view  or  description  presents 
new  features  to  the  novice  in  licentiousness,  it  becomes  at 
once  an  institution  from  whence  flows  a  stream  that  poisons 
a  city.  In  an  instant  these  productions  take  miniature 
shapes :  art  combines  with  the  genius  of  the  originators, 
and,  lo!  they  go  forth  through  the  post,  spreading  ruin 
and  desolation  everywhere.  It  is  that  very  facility  which 
the  post  affords  that  gives  power  and  influence  to  these 
fiends;  and,  alas!  how  many,  dazzled  by  the  "refinement 
of  vice," — refined  by  the  touch  of  art, — fall  into  the  snare 
by  the  very  excitement  they  produce!  Many  of  these 
photographs  of  the  more  vile  character  reach  "young 
ladies'  seminaries."  Many  books  of  a  similar  character 
find  their  way  hither,  and  thus  corruption  works  its  way 
to  the  ruin  of  their  inmates. 

We  would  have — what  under  no  other  circumstance 
would  we  suggest  to  the  department — an  espionage  over 
all  suspicious  postal  matter. 

ESPIONAGE  OVER  THE  POST-OFFICE  IN  FRANCE. 

That  country  must  be  in  a  bad  way  where  the  heads  of 
the  several  departments  find  it  necessary  to  resort  to  the 
most  infamous  means  of  tracing  out  suspected  traitors. 
Thus,  in  the  pdQal  department,  every  letter  is  subject  to 
the  system  of  espionage,  and  the  innocent  as  well  as  the 
guilty  alike  suspected  and  their  private  correspondence 
betrayed.  In  time  of  rebellion,  insurrection,  or  an  at- 


THE  POST-OFFICE  SOLVENT.  387 

tempt  to  assassinate  a  king  or  an  emperor,  there  might  be 
some  excuse  for  the  exercise  of  such  precaution;  but  in 
the  absence  of  such  startling  causes  the  system  is  both 
mean  and  cowardly.  In  France,  at  the  present  time 
(1865),  private  letters,  newspapers,  and  pamphlets  are 
subjected  to  the  most  anxious  scrutiny.  A  large  portion 
of  every  day  is  devoted  to  such  examinations  by  a  skilful 
and  energetic  body  of  men.  Between  the  time  when 
letters  are  received  at  the  chief  office  from  the  district-offices 
and  the  time  they  are  sent  out  again,  two  hours  elapse. 
During  this  period  they  are  in  the  hands  of  the  police.  The 
police  have  a  list  of  certain  addresses,  and  are  furnished 
with  examples  of  the  handwriting  of  every  one  in  whose 
correspondence  the  government  is  interested.  With  these 
and  practised  eyes  the  officials  set  to  work,  carrying  all 
suspected  letters  into  the  Cabinet  froir,  where  they  are 
read,  copied,  delayed,  stopped  at  discretion ;  and  the  police 
are  very  discreet  about  seizing  letters :  it  is  done  as  seldom 
as  possible.  The  system  is  so  perfect,  it  works  so  well, 
that  the  only  chance  of  evading  it  is  to  correspond  under 
assumed  names,  changed  with  every  letter;  and  this  is 
actually  done  by  people  who  are  not  more  treasonable 
than  the  majority  of  Frenchmen,  but  who,  being  eminent 
and  powerful,  are  condemned  to  the  degradation  of  shifts 
like  these,  or  every  letter  they  write  would  be  read  by  the 
police.  Governments  maintained  thus  are  never  safe  in 
power. 

THE  POST-OFFICE  SOLVENT. 

The  following  article  we  take  from  the  "Philadelphia 
North  American  and  United  States  Gazette"  of  the  13th 
July,  1865.  The  view  the  editor  takes  is  simply,  how- 
ever, from  a  hastily-arranged  statement  nade  shortly  after 
the  appointment  of  Mr.  Dennison  as  postmaster-general. 
We  have  our  doubts  about  its  accuracy,  inasmuch  as  the 
short  time  for  reductions  of  salary  and  other  expenses 


388  THE  POST-OFFICE  SOLVENT. 

would  not  lessen  the  debt  against  the  postal  department 
and  yield  a  surplus  of  seven  hundred  thousand  dollars. 
Well .  may  the  editor  say,  "  How  long  this  is  likely  to  con- 
tinue we  cannot  say" 

"For  the  first  time  in  many  years  the  United  States 
Post-Office  Department  has  become  a  paying  institution, 
the  revenues  of  the  last  six  months  having  yielded  a  sur- 
plus of  more  than  seven  hundred  thousand  dollars  above 
the  expenses,  and  the  ensuing  six  months  will  tell  still 
better.  How  long  this  is  likely  to  continue  we  cannot  say. 
During  Mr.  Blair's  administration  of  this  department  he 
reduced  the  expenditures  to  such  an  extent  as  to  aiford  an 
astonishing  contrast  with  the  old  Buchanan  dynasty,  when 
the  annual  deficit  of  the  department  was  five  millions  of 
dollars.  We  thought  Mr.  Blair's  management  unprece- 
dently  good ;  but  still  he  could  not  bring  the  department 
to  a  paying  standard,  which  his  successor  has  now  done 
very  handsomely.  Mr.  Dennison  has  done  this  by  means 
of  a  system  of  the  most  stringent  and  searching  economy, 
reducing  the  force  of  employees  everywhere,  cutting  down 
salaries  and  allowances,  examining  carefully  into  items  of 
expenditure,  the  management  and  compensation  of  con- 
tractors, &c. 

"  In  fact,  Governor  Dennison  brought  to  the  conduct  of 
our  postal  affairs  the  excellent  training  he  had  received  in 
the  executive  government  of  Ohio,  like  his  predecessor  in 
that  office,  Mr.  Chase,  and  he  has  looked  carefully  into 
every  thing  under  his  charge  with  an  eye  to  economy  and 
efficiency,  and  the  service,  instead  of  suffering  by  this 
scrutiny,  has  been  largely  benefited.  But  with  the  re-» 
newal  of  our  authority  in  the  South  comes  back  a  region 
wherein  before  1860  the  postal  service  was  always  carried 
on  at  a  heavy  loss  to  the  National  Government.  It  hardly 
admits  of  a  doubt  that  this  deficit  was  owing  solely  to  the 
running  of  great  numbers  of  useless  mails  to  gratify  local 


THE  POST-OFFICE  SOLVENT.  389 

influences.  This  was  consequent  upon  the  predominance 
of  Southern  politicians  at  Washington.  Their  demands 
for  favors  of  this  kind  were  incessant,  and,  as  they  were 
generally  with  the  ruling  element  in  Congress,  they  got 
whatever  they  asked  for.  It  may  be  inferred  that  modesty 
was  not  one  of  their  faults,  and  that  they  did  not  lose 
any  thing  for  the  want  of  asking. 

"In  places  where  a  weekly  mail  would  have  answered, 
a  daily,  semi-weekly,  or  tri-weekly  mail  was  run,  and  so 
where  a  place  of  somewhat  more  consequence  needed  a 
semi- weekly  mail  a  daily  mail  would  be  run.  Instead  of 
making  every  post-office  a  paying  one,  by  making  it  the 
depot  for  a  sufficient  population,  swarms  of  unnecessary 
offices  were  created  to  gratify  local  politicians,  the  effect 
of  which  was  that  none  were  remunerative.  We  are  sorry 
to  say  that  this  evil  afflicts  the  service  in  many  parts  of 
the  North,  and  that  there  is  great  need  of  discontinuing 
offices  now  in  existence.  Sometimes  the  ambition  or  the 
jealousy  of  villages  led  to  this  multiplication  of  useless 
offices,  but  generally  it  was  caused  by  the  Congressmen 
catering  for  their  political  supporters.  Since  the  year 
1860  the  necessities  of  the  government  have  compelled 
the  department  to  reduce  both  the  number  of  these  offices 
and  of  the  mails  run.  The  deficiency  always  visible  in 
the  postal  revenues  at  the  South,  aside  from  the  causes  we 
have  referred  to,  arose  also  from  the  evil  policy  of  the 
slaveholding  oligarchy.  Four  millions  of  the  Southern 
population  were  prohibited  from  a  knowledge  of  reading 
and  writing,  and  of  course  the  post-office  was  not  needed 
for  them.  The  planter  had  no  right  to  complain  of  being 
reduced  to  a  weekly  mail;  for  in  a  region  of  six  square 
miles  there  might  not  be  more  than  three  families  using 
the  post-office,  the  rest  being  all  slaves,  or  illiterate  'poor 
white  trash/ 

"Yet  these  planters  would  make  a  vast  deal  of  fuss 

33* 


390  THE  POST-OFFICE  SOLVENT. 

about  their  mail  facilities,  and  to  satisfy  them  the  National 
Government  sustained  an  annual  loss  of  millions  of  dollars. 
It  was  not  only  the  prohibition  of  letters  toward  the  slaves 
that  caused  the  loss,  for  the  poor  whites  labored  under  no 
such  prohibition,  and  yet  were  as  ignorant  as  the  slaves; 
but  it  was  the  total  absence  of  all  provision  for  the  edu- 
cation of  the  masses  of  the  population  throughout  the 
South.  The  poor  whites  could  not  read  newspapers  if 
they  received  them;  they  could  not  write  letters,  nor 
could  they  read  them.  Moreover,  the  mail-matter  was 
still  further  reduced  by  the  refusal  to  allow  anti-slavery 
newspapers  to  circulate  at  all  in  the  South.  A  merchant 
could  not  receive  the  commercial  papers  of  the  North, 
because  of  their  sentiments  about  slavery;  a  clergyman 
could  not  receive  the  religious  papers  of  the  North,  for 
the  same  reason.  If  a  man  in  any  of  the  interior  dis- 
tricts received  frequent  letters  from  the  North,  he  would 
be  sure  to  find  them  a  matter  of  inquisitorial  questioning, 
and  would  be  obliged  to  give  an  idea  of  the  nature  of  his 
correspondence. 

"The  question  how  the  postal  service  can  be  rendered 
permanently  remunerative  at  the  South  involves  three  dis- 
tinct and  very  important  considerations  : — 

"How  can  the  ignorant  masses  of  the  Southern  popu- 
lation be  educated  in  a  knowledge  of  reading,  writing,  and 
arithmetic,  and  insured  hereafter  the  benefits  of  a  well- 
established  common  free-school  system  for  their  children? 

"  How  can  we  relieve  the  national  mails  of  that  infamous 
espionage  which,  down  to  the  present  time,  has  been  rigidly 
enforced  in  every  hole  and  corner  of  the  South,  sometimes 
by  the  post-office  itself,  but  generally  by  outside  parties, 
though  always  in  the  interest  of  the  plantation  aristocracy 
and  their  political  agents  and  domination  ? 

"How  can  we  prevent  the  renewal  of  the  old  evil  of 
supernumerary  post-offices  and  superfluous  mails  all  over 


SALARIES  OF  POSTMASTERS.  391 

the  South,  and  so  gauge  the  service  that  each  office  shall 
pay  expenses  and  each  mail  be  well  filled  with  paying 
matter? 

"These  are  the  problems  to  be  solved,  and  it  behooves 
us  all  to  reflect  upon  their  exceeding  difficulty  when  we 
complain  that  our  postal  department  is  not  better  managed. 
Although  the  franking  system  is  bad  enough  in  all  con- 
science, it  is  not  responsible  for  the  bulk  of  the  postal 
loss.  From  what  we  have  said  above,  it  must  be  plain 
that  the  despotic  social  system,  established  for  the  benefit 
of  the  plantation  aristocracy,  has  been  annually  paid  for 
largely  out  of  our  pockets.  We  have  paid  five  millions 
of  dollars  annually  as  a  premium  upon  Southern  igno- 
rance. We  have  helped  the  planter  to  keep  his  slaves 
and  his  poor  white  neighbors  in  ignorance  and  degrada- 
tion, and,  in  order  the  better  to  enable  him  to  enforce  his 
cruel  and  abominable  despotism,  we  have  given  him  the 
surveillance  of  our  mails,  and  allowed  him  to  terrorize 
over  them  as  he  saw  fit.  Mr.  Dennison,  we  can  readily 
believe,  is  not  the  man  to  put  up  with  this  hereafter ;  but 
it  requires  vigilance  to  prevent  it  altogether,  and  the  ex- 
ercise of  other  powers  than  his  to  remedy  the  great  evil, — 
Southern  ignorance."  . 

SALARIES  OF  POSTMASTERS. 

Under  the  old  postal  arrangement,  the  salary  of  post- 
masters of  the  principal  cities  was  limited  to  $2000.  This 
compensation  was  derived  from  a  commission  out  of  their 
receipts,  which  could  not  exceed  the  amount  named.  This 
would  appear  at  first  as  small  pay  for  such  an  important 
position, — more  particularly  as  under  the  administration  of 
Postmaster  Blair  the  salary  was  raised  to  $4000 :  yet  there 
is  not  a  postmaster  but  would  willingly  go  back  to  the 
old  system.  Under  the  former  provision  of  the  postal 
law  postmasters  were  allowed  the  amount  arising  from 


392  THE  PENNY  POST. 

the  rent  of  letter-boxes  in  their  respective  offices  as  a 
perquisite,  and  also  certain  other  matters,  which  shrewd 
men  knew  well  how  to  place  under  this  head.  During 
the  existence  of  this  system  the  desire  for  the  office  far 
exceeded  that  which  was  and  is  likely  to  be  manifested 
under  the  latter,  inasmuch  as  $4000  per  annum  and  no 
perquisites  is  scarcely  a  desirable  position  for  an  ambitious 
and  popular  politician.  Many  a  business-man,  outside  of 
the  political  ring,  would  consider  it  quite  sufficient,  how- 
ever :  business-men  are  not  cormorants.  It  is  true,  even 
under  the  old  law,  by  an  act  passed  March  3,  1847,  the 
rent  of  boxes  to  be  credited  to  the  postmaster  was  limited, 
restricting  the  amount  so  received  to  $2000, — consequently 
limiting  his  salary  to  $4000:  for  all  over  and  above  that 
amount  he  had  to  account  to  the  department.  Under 
some  administrations  postmasters  became  rich,  whether  by 
husbanding  their  actual  income  or  the  perquisites  are  ques- 
tions simply  of  conjecture. 

THE  PENNY  POST. 

The  first  attempt  to  establish  the  penny  post  in  the 
United  States  was  in  the  years  1839—40.  It  was  simply 
a  speculation,  and  resulted  at  first,  in  almost  total  failure, 
but  revived  again  under  more  enterprising  parties.  Pre- 
vious to  this,  however,  contrary  to  the  laws  of  Congress, — 
particularly  the  law  of  1825,  sect.  19,  which  enacts  that 
no  stage  or  other  vehicle  which  regularly  performs  trips 
on  a  post-road  or  on  a  road  parallel  to  it,  and  no  packet, 
war,  or  other  vessel  which  regularly  plies  on  a  water 
declared  a  post-road,  shall  convey  letters, — certain  persons, 
actually  availing  themselves  of  these  modes  of  convey- 
ance, constituted  themselves  "private  posts,"  travelling 
as  passengers,  and  carried  packages  containing  valuable  let- 
ters, documents,  and  other  available  matter :  these  were, 
of  course,  transported  as  baggage  or  freight.  The  con- 


THE  PENNY  POST.  393 

veyances  used  by  these  men  passed  regularly  over  post- 
roads,  and  thus  they  travelled  in  company  with  their 
powerful  opponent,  "  the  post-office  department."  It  was 
also  well  known  to  the  department ;  but  as  they  were  not 
special  posts,  the  law  of  1825  did  not  reach  them.  Still 
their  system  was  a  secret  one,  and  hard  to  be  detected. 
The  law,  however,  of  1827,  sect.  3,  enacts  that  no  person 
other  than  the  postmaster-general  or  his  authorized  agents 
shall  set  up  any  foot-  or  horse-posts  for  the  conveyance  of 
letters  and  packets  upon  any  post-road  which  is  or  may 
be  established  as  such  by  law. 

This  law  paved  the  way  for  the  establishing  penny 
posts  by  individuals  in  cities  and  even  in  rural  districts. 
At  first  they  were  called  expresses,  but  soon  they  assumed 
a  more  postal  shape.  The  postmaster-general's  annual  re- 
port of  December  2,  1843,  stated  that  "numerous  private 
posts,  under  the  name  of  expresses,  had  sprung  within  a 
few  years  into  existence,  extending  themselves  over  the 
mail-routes  between  the  cities  and  towns,  and  transporting 
letters  and  other  mailable  matter  for  pay  to  a  great  ex- 
tent." Suits  were  commenced  against  parties  residing  in 
New  York,  Massachusetts,  and  Maryland.  It  appears 
from  the  postmaster-general's  report  of  November  25, 
1844,  that  the  government  had  been  unable  to  suppress 
the  private  expresses,  which  were  still  continued  "  upon 
the  leading  post-routes."  In  this  and  in  the  former  annual 
report  he  recommended  legislation  by  Congress  for  their 
suppression.  There  is  yet  no  law  of  Congress  to  suppress 
these  expresses.  -  Governments,  more  particularly  that  of 
ours,  cannot  enact  laws  that  will  interfere  with  the  com- 
mercial interests  of  the  people.  It  may  facilitate  every 
movement  by  such  laws  as  are  legitimate;  but  taking 
out  of  the  hands  of  individuals  their  legitimate  business, 
connected  with  no  department  of  the  government,  becomes 
at  oynce  not  only  a  monopoly,  but  assumes  the  complexion 


394  THE  PENNY  POST. 

of  tyranny.  The  decision  of  the  judges  in  the  cases  re- 
ferred to  settled  the  question,  until  compromise  stepped  in 
and  the  government  came  down  to  the  "  penny  system," 
and  thus  satisfied  the  public. 

In  1860  Mr.  Holt,  the  postmaster-general,  by  virtue 
of  the  act  of  March  3,  1851,  by  a  formal  order  declared 
all  the  streets,  lanes,  avenues,  &c.  within  the  corporate 
limits  of  the  cities  of  Boston,  New  York,  and  Philadel- 
phia, to  be  post-roads,  and  notified  all  engaged  in  the 
transportation  and  delivery  of  letters  for  compensation  in 
said  cities,  that  they  would  expose  themselves  to  the 
penalties  imposed  by  the  third  section  of  the  act  of 
March,  1827.  The  private  expresses  in  the  cities  named 
acquiesced  in  the  legality  of  the  step,  with  the  exception 
of  one  in  Philadelphia  long  and  familiarly  known  as 
"Blood's  Express,"  and  subsequently,  "Despatch."  In 
despite  of  the  act  of  1851,  or  the  penalty  imposed  under 
that  of  1827,  Blood's  Express  continued  its  regular  de- 
livery of  letters  in  defiance  of  the  department.  A  bill  in 
equity  was  filed  with  a  view  of  restraining  the  company 
from  this  habitual  and  persistent  violation  of  the  postal 
laws ;  but,  upon  full  argument  and  consideration  had  on 
the  questions  involved,  the  injunction  was  denied. 

The  mere  existence  of  a  postal  department  of  the  gov- 
ernment is  not  an  establishment  of  monopoly.  No  gov- 
ernment has  ever  organized  a  system  of  posts  without 
securing  to  itself  a  monopoly  of  the  carriage  of  letters 
and  mailable  matter;  but  this  was  never  intended  to 
control  individual  enterprise  in  the  express  line.  Judge 
Grier,  who  indorses  the  decision  of  this  case,  says,*  "The 
business  of  private  carriers  of  letters  and  mailable  packets, 

*  Persons  anxious  to  examine  more  closely  into  this  subject,  which, 
however,  is  now  settled,  no  doubt  finally,  by  a  compromise  with  the 
parties,  are  referred  to  the  opinion  of  the  court,  "  United  States  vs. 
Kochersperger,"  in  report  of  the  postmaster-general  for  the  year  i860. 


THE  PENNY  POST.  395 

even  on  principal  mail-routes,  is  lawful  unless  legis- 
latively prohibited.  A  private  monopoly,  secured  by 
prohibitory  legislation,  cannot  require  the  suppression 
of  a  rival  business  of  competitors  who  do  not  infringe 
the  prohibition,  merely  because  the  continuance  of  their 
business  would  lessen  or  destroy  the  profits  of  his  mo- 
nopoly. A  like  rule  applies  in  determining  the  effect 
of  a  government's  legislative  prohibitions  to  secure  its 
own  postal  monopoly.  The  monopoly  cannot  be  extended 
beyond  the  legislative  prohibitions,  merely  because  the 
continuance  of  a  specific  business  which  has  not  been 
prohibited  would  reduce  the  postal  earnings  of  the  gov- 
ernment, or  even  frustrate  the  purposes  of  its  exclusive 
policy."  Streets,  lanes,  alleys,  and  avenues  were  not,  in 
the  opinion  of  the  judge,  "  post-routes."  Public  streets 
intersecting  a  municipal  town  are  as  highways  distin- 
guishable specifically  from  the  general  public  highways 
of  a  State  beyond  the  town  limits.  The  streets  are,  in- 
deed, as  thoroughfares,  general  public  highways  of  the 
State ;  but,  independently  of  this  character  of  thorough- 
fares, the  streets  are  specially  local  highways  of  the  town. 
Internal  affairs  of  municipal  towns  affecting  their  local 
interests  alone  are  always  regulated  more  or  less  by  their 
local  governments.  So  far  as  these  streets  over  which  the 
mail  may  be  carried  are  entitled  to  be  termed  "  post-roads 
for  the  passage  of  the  mail,"  there  is  no  question;  but 
whether  Congress  has  the  right  to  declare  the  streets  of  a 
city  post-roads  for  any  purpose  is  questionable. 

When  Blood's  Express  was  first  established,  its  main 
object  was  to  accommodate  merchants,  mechanics,  and 
professional  men  generally,  by  furnishing  a  medium  of 
communication  with  their  customers,  clients,  &c.,  which 
would  anticipate  the  slow  movements  of  the  old  postal 
mode  of  delivery.  If  this  continued  to  be  its  legitimate 
object,  it  is  very  probable  the  commercial  community 


396  THE  PENNY  POST. 

would  have  taken  a  much  greater  interest  in  it  than  they 
did;  but,  unfortunately  for  this  new  postal  system,  it 
assumed  the  character  of  a  "Parisian  Bureau,"  for  the 
reception  and  delivery  of  small  documents,  wherein  "  love, 
courtship,  and  marriage"  were  all  treated  with  an  eye  to 
excitement  rather  than  as  a  virtuous  incentive  to  their  study 
and  moral  consequences.  Young  and  inexperienced  girls 
were  gradually  led  into  (initial)  correspondence  with  "fast 
young  men ;"  foolish  widows  and  old  maids  to  advertise 
for  husbands,  and  equally  silly,  weak-minded  elderly 
gentlemen  to  imitate  their  example.  Added  to  this, 
many  made  this  penny  system  the  medium  to  originate 
practical  jokes,  and  thus  the  "express"  became  a  sort  of 
Pandora's  (postal]  box  for  "all  sorts  of  people"  to  try 
experiments  with  fickle  fortune,  either  by  marriage  or 
swindling.  Both  in  some  instances  succeeded. 

The  same  was  attempted  when  the  government  took 
charge  of  the  "express;"  but  the  department  soon  put  a 
stop  to  this  nonsensical  practice  by  ignoring  as  legitimate 
matter  every  thing  of  an  initial  character.  Young  girls, 
foolish  widows,  old  maids,  and  weak-minded  men,  who 
could  without  much  publicity  send  and  receive  communi- 
cations through  "Blood's  Express,"  found  a  post-office 
somewhat  too  dignified  an  institution  for  their  childish  in- 
tellects. 

Still,  this  class  of  people, — and  it  takes  all  kinds  to  make 
up  a  world, — added  to  another  class  who  make  of  crime  a 
pastime  and  licentiousness  a  pleasure,  adopted  other  modes 
of  carrying  on  their  "vocation,"  which  we  here  allude  to 
under  the  head  of  "  Indecent  postal  matter." 


THE  VICTIM  OF  LOVE.  397 


XV. 


THE  VICTIM  OF  LOVE. 

"  Oh,  grief  beyond  all  other  griefs,  when  fate 
First  leaves  the  young  heart  lone  and  desolate 
In  the  wide  world,  without  that  only  tie 
For  which  it  loved  to  live  or  feared  to  die  !" 

I  WAS  seated  at  my  desk  ;  the  index-box  was  filled  with 
letters,  —  the  great  Southern  mail  having  just  arrived. 
"  Are  there  any  letters  for  me,  sir,  —  Henry  Middleton  ?" 
I  glanced  my  eyes  at  the  applicant  :  there  was  something 
in  his  voice,  look,  and  manner  which  for  a  moment  riveted 
my  attention.  He  appeared  by  no  means  annoyed  at  my 
scrutiny  of  his  person,  no  doubt  ascribing  it  to  the  nature 
of  our  situation.  He  was  apparently  about  twenty-three 
years  of  age  ;  eyes  dark  and  penetrating  ;  a  shade  of  melan- 
choly passed  over  his  countenance  and  withered  the  sun- 
shine of  hope;  a  mouth  of  the  most  marked  character 
conveyed  to  the  observer  a  knowledge  of  his  ;  the  lower 
lip  firmly  compressed,  and  the  curl  of  the  upper  denoted 
strong  and  agitated  feeling,  and  an  irritable  temperament. 
Having  gathered  this  much  from  Henry  Middleton's  per- 
sonal appearance,  I  took  out  from  the  box  M  a  handful 
of  letters.  One  was  addressed  to  him  :  the  handwriting 
was  evidently  that  of  a  female.  He  seized  it  with  a 
nervous  grasp,  a  momentary  gleam  of  hope  lighted  up 
his  shadowy  countenance,  and  he  rushed  out  of  the  office. 
For  the  first  time  in  my  life  I  felt  a  degree  of  curiosity  to 
know  the  contents  of  another's  letter:  it  was  a  strange 
and  to  me  a  new  feeling.  In  vain  I  battled  with  the 

34 


398  THE  VICTIM  OF  LOVE. 

demon  which  seemed  rising  within  me ;  in  vain  I  turned 
over  letter  after  letter  to  withdraw  my  mind  from  this 
dangerous  focus  of  thought :  it  was  utterly  useless.  That 
night  I  dreamed  of  being  condemned  for  breaking  open 
letters  intrusted  to  my  charge. 

Towards  evening  on  the  day  following,  to  my  extreme 
joy  Henry  Middleton  stood  at  the  window. 

"I  wish  to  pay  the  postage  of  this  letter,  sir." 

Twenty-five  cents  I  informed  him  was  the  charge.  The 
letter  was  in  my  hand :  Middleton  had  departed.  The 
address,  Miss  Amelia  Templeton, — a  small  seal  with  the 
impression  M  upon  it, — was  the  padlock  to  my  curiosity. 
My  brain  grew  giddy  with  the  intensity  of  desire.  I  held 
the  epistle  up  to  the  light, — the  paper  was  coarse  and 
thick.  I  peeped  into  the  folds :  ah  !  what  is  that  ? — part 
of  a  sentence  visible : — 

"  Love,  Amelia,  acknowledges  no  tie  but  that  of  its  own 
creation." 

What  a  sentence !  In  vain  I  tried  to  follow  it  up ;  not 
a  word  beyond  this  could  I  make  out.  Here  I  was  left 
in  the  dark:  then  my  imagination  completed  a  volume 
of  surmises.  He,  Middleton,  was  endeavoring  to  per- 
suade Amelia  to  elope  with  him,  or  rather  to  follow  him 
here,  and  the  above  line  constituted  a  portion  of  the 
argument  used  by  him  to  effect  this  object. 

Such  were  my  conjectures  relating  to  the  affair,  derived 
from  such  evidence  as  the  reader  is  now  acquainted  with. 

A  month  passed  over,  and  my  note-book  contained 
several  incidents  of  an  interesting  nature ;  but  the  lovers, 
as  I  concluded  them  to  be,  occupied  so  much  of  my 
thoughts  that  I  could  pay  but  very  little  attention  to  the 
rest.  I  awaited  impatiently  the  return  of  the  mail  which 
should  bring  the  answer  from  Amelia.  At  length  it  came. 
To  Henry  Middleton.  I  instinctively  caught  it  up.  I 
felt  as  if  I  were  an  interested  person,  and  had  a  right  to 


THE  VICTIM  OF  LOVE.  399 

see — that  is,  without  breaking  the  seal — as  much  of  the 
letter  as  I  could ;  but  Amelia  had  folded  it  so  carefully 
that  it  defied  all  attempts  to  gather  any  connected  sen- 
tence. Gracious  heavens !  what  do  I  see  ?  By  turning 
up  a  portion  of  the  inner  fold  with  the  blade  of  my  knife, 
I  read, — 

Yours,  affectionately, 

AMELIA  SINCLAIR. 

It  was  now  certain  that  Amelia  was  lost  to  Henry. 
She  had  proved  faithless  by  marrying  another.  How 
would  he  bear  up  against  the  thunderbolt  aimed  direct  at 
his  heart  ?  I  again  endeavored  to  penetrate  further  into 
this  letter :  another  fold  was  carefully  raised ;  the  words, 
"a  parent's  curse,"  "cruel  necessity,"  "your  absence," 
"forced  into  marriage,"  burst  upon  my  sight.  I  had 
actually  worked  myself  into  a  fever,  and  had  partly  de- 
termined to  keep  the  letter  from  Middleton,  feeling  assured 
that  its  contents  would  prove  a  death-blow  to  his  hopes. 
While  debating  the  subject  with  myself,  he  appeared  at 
the  window.  I  held  the  letter  in  my  hand.  A  tremor 
of  almost  conscious  guilt  passed  over  me,  and,  if  he  had 
watched  my  countenance,  he  could  not  have  failed  to 
detect  something  indicative  of  my  crime.  I  handed  him 
the  letter :  he  gazed  upon  the  well-known  hand,  a  smile 
of  joy  irradiated  his  visage ;  he  tore  it  open,  hastily  de- 
vouring its  contents;  a  sudden  and  awful  change  came 
over  his  face ;  the  exclamation  of  "  oh,  God !"  escaped 
him :  he  raised  his  right  arm,  pressing  the  distended 
fingers  against  his  forehead,  and  fell  upon  the  floor  in 
horrid  convulsions ! 

******* 

He  lay  upon  the  bed  of  death, — his  eyes  partly  closed, 

and  his  hands  clasped  together  in  convulsive  agony.     I 

stood  beside  him>  awaiting  the  result  of  the  paroxysm.     In 

a  few  moments  he  regained  consciousness :  he  gazed  Ian- 


400  THE  VICTIM  OF  LOVE. 

guidly   around   the   room,   exclaiming,   "Where   am   I? 
Who  did  this?" 

"  One,"  I  replied,  "  who  is  willing  to  serve  you." 

"  Oh,  then,  as  you  are  my  friend,  burn  that  fatal  letter ! 
While  it  exists,  I  am  wretched :  it  is  the  curse  of  the  few 
short  moments  I  have  yet  to  live.  I  have  read  it  until 
each  word,  nay,  each  letter,  seemed  as  a  coal  of  fire  con- 
suming my  very  heart-strings.  It  is  chained  to  my  brain, 
and  each  thought  I  bestow  upon  it  acts  as  an  electric 
shock  to  heighten  my  misery.  I  essayed  to  destroy  it; 
but  dared  not, — cannot." 

I  took  the  letter  and  deliberately  burned  it:  he  watched 
its  disappearance  with  a  maddening  glare,  and,  when  it 
was  entirely  burned  to  ashes,  he  burst  into  a  hysterical 
laugh,  and  fell  back  upon  the  bed. 

It  is  scarcely  necessary  to  inform  the  reader  that,  after 
the  scene  at  the  post-office,  I  caused  him  to  be  conveyed 
to  my  room,  and  he  had  continued  in  a  state  of  delirium 
during  the  whole  of  that  time.  On  recovering  from  the 
hysterical  affection  caused  by  the  excitement  of  destroying 
the  letter,  he  became  more  calm. 

"  I  thank  you,"  he  muttered ;  "  I  remember  it  all,  and 
you  have  been  my  true  friend.  Heaven  will  bless  you  for 
it:  my  prayers — they  are  all  I  have  to  offer — shall  be 
breathed  for  thee  and  thine." 

"Compose  yourself,"  I  answered;  "think  of  nothing 
now  but  your  recovery  and  return  to  your  friends." 

"  Friends  !— ha,  ha,  ha !  Who  talks  of  friends  ?  Ah  ! 
yes ;  you  that  are  a  real  one,  and  never  felt  the  venomed 
tooth  of  a  smiling  hypocrite  in  your  flesh.  No,  I  will 
speak ;  bear  with  me  a  while.  Think,  only  !  he  was  my 
chum  at  college,  the  companion  of  my  youth,  the  friend 
of  my  more  matured  age,  and  we  lived  in  the  hope  of 
ending  our  days  beneath  the  same  roof;  but  now  the 
broad  canopy  of  heaven  cannot  shelter  both  of  us  alive. 


THE  VICTIM  OF  LOVE.  401 

One  or  the  other  should — must  die,  and  fate  accords  it 
to  me." 

"  You  distress  yourself.  Do  not  speak  of  these  things." 
"  I  speak  of  them,  my  dear  sir,  to  drive  away  the  curse 
of  recollection.  Left  alone  to  dwell  upon  them,  I  would 
go  mad.  I  will  relate  to  you  something  of  my  short  but 
eventful  history.  It  is  simple ;  there  is  no  romance  in  it : 
it  is  one  "of  those  incidents  which  occur  in  every  life  among 
men  of  the  world.  I  was  not  suited  for  the  world :  it  has 
crushed  me.  Amelia  has  wounded  the  heart  that  loved 
her.  But  no  more  of  that.  We  were  cousins,  destined  at 
an  early  age  by  our  parents  for  each  other.  We  grew  up 
in  the  perfect  knowledge  of  the  happiness  which  awaited 
us :  we  were  young,  we  were  lovers.  There  is  not  a 
stream,  there  is  not  a  mountain  of  our  native  home,  but 
could  tell  a  tale  of  our  early  loves.  We  have  wandered 
over  the  one  and  sat  beside  the  other,  when  the  moon 
shed  her  pale  and  silvery  light  upon  its  waters.  There 
nature  smiled  upon  us,  and  we  in  return  rejoiced  that  she 
was  so  good.  Pardon  my  folly,  sir ;  but  those  were  mo- 
ments of  pure,  unalloyed  bliss.  There  came  one  among 
us,  who,  in  my  dreams  and  my  waking  hours  of  madness, 
I  have  cursed.  It  was  Sinclair,  my  friend.  I  will  not 
enter  further  into  the  details  of  my  history.  I  will  not 
relate  to  you  the  causes  which  induced  me  to  quit  home : 
suffice  it,  however,  to  say  that  I  was  unfortunate.  I  wrote 
to  Amelia.  The  fatal  answer  and  the  result  of  it  you  are 
already  acquainted  with,  and  it  is  to  your  kindness  that  I 
am  indebted  for  those  few  days  added  to  a  life  of  insup- 
portable wretchedness.  My  nervous  system,  susceptible 
of  the  slightest  shock,  my  mind  weakened  by  the  heredi- 
tary disease  of  our  family,  consumption,  could  not  battle 
against  the  accumulation  of  domestic  misfortunes,  and  a 
jealous  feeling  which  I  harbored  of  Amelia.  I  left  home: 
my  misery  is  now  complete ;  my  former  suspicions  have 

32* 


402  THE  WIDOWED  MOTHER. 

proved  true.  She  is  faithless  !  This,  sir,  is  all  :  bear  with 
me  but  a  short  time,  and  then  I  will  tell  you  the  rest.  I 
feel  myself  sinking;  listen.  Oh,  God!  oh,  God!  —  I  — 
I  -  "  He  gasped  for  breath  ;  the  muscles  of  his  face 
worked  as  if  struggling  to  retain  life  ;  his  eyes  became 
fixed  ;  his  lips  muttered  sounds,  —  they  were  unmeaning. 
I  took  his  hand  :  it  was  cold  and  stiff.  I  gazed  upon  his 
face  :  Death's  seal  was  set  forever  ! 

******* 
In  the  Episcopal  churchyard,  near  C  -  Street,  is  to  be 
seen  a  neat  marble  slab,  with  the  following  inscription  :  — 

Sacred 

to  the 
Memory  of 


aged  2&  years. 
Sic  transit  ffloria  mundi. 

THE  WIDOWED  MOTHER. 

"Though  grief  may  blight,  or  sin  deface 

Our  youth's  fair  promise,  or  disgrace 

May  brand  with  infamy  and  shame. 
****** 

A  mother,  though  her  heart  may  break, 

From  that  fond  heart  will  never  tear 

The  child  whose  last  retreat  is  there." 

ELLEN  FITZARTHUR. 

It  was  a  cold,  dreary  morning  in  the  month  of  Decem- 
ber, a  heavy  snow  lay  upon  the  ground,  and  the  wind 
whistled  around  the  northeast  corner  of  the  post-office;  the 
streets  were  nearly  deserted;  none  ventured  out  but  those 
whose  business  rendered  it  absolutely  necessary.  I  sat  at 
the  window  watching  the  flakes  of  snow  as  they  peeled 
from  the  roofs  of  the  opposite  houses  and  scattered  their 
whitened  particles  on  the  pavement  beneath. 


THE  WIDOWED  MOTHER.  403 

The  Southern  mail  had  arrived,  and  all  the  business- 
letters  were  delivered;  a  drowsy  feeling  crept  over  me,  and 
I  was  just  falling  into  the  Lethean  lake  of  forgetfulness, — 
that  dreamy  portion  of  our  life,  without  which  this  para- 
dise, this  glorious  world,  with  its  riches  and  its  charms, 
would  be  as  a  howling  desert. 

"Sleep,  sweet  restorer,  balmy  sleep." 

But  I  am  digressing.  I  was  awakened  from  my  slumber 
by  a  slight  touch  upon  the  elbow  and  a  tremulous  voice 
uttering  the  words,  "  Sir !  sir !' 

"Madam!"  cried  I,  starting  up. 

"I  am  sorry  to  disturb  you,  sir,  but  I  wish  to  know  if 
there  are  any  letters  from  my  son?" 

Honest  creature:  she  looked  the  picture  of  distress;  the 
widow  of  hope  as  well  as  kin,  her  age  apparently  about 
fifty,  her  dress  neat  but  indicating  poverty, — the  hand  of 
Time  had  furrowed  her  cheek  and  left  his  impress  there. 

"From  your  son,  madam?" 

"Yes,  sir,  my  only  son:  a  good,  brave  boy,  and  my 
only  dependence;  he  lives  in  New  Orleans,  and  sends  me 
my  little  allowance  every  month.  Is  there  any,  sir?" 

"What  is  your  name?" 

"Williams,  sir,— Mary  Williams." 

"Here  are  two  letters,  ma'am,  for  Mary  Williams." 

"That  is  me,  sir;  and  that  is  his  handwriting,  dear, 
good  boy !  he  never  will  forget  his  aged  mother." 

"Fifty  cents,  ma'am." 

"Fifty  cents,  sir!  my  William  always  pays  for  the 
letters." 

"  In  this  instance  he  has  failed  to  do  so." 

"What  shall  I  do?" 

"I  think  you  said,  ma'am,  that  your  son  sends  you  a 
monthly  allowance :  so  probably  one  of  these  letters  con- 
tains it." 


404  THE  WIDOWED  MOTHER. 

The  letter  was  opened,  and,  as  I  anticipated,  a  ten- 
dollar  bill  was  enclosed. 

After  the  departure  of  the  old  lady  I  began  to  weave 
an  imaginary  tale  from  the  simple  incident  attending  her 
appearance.  Her  son  was  in  New  Orleans:  it  was  true, 
the  season  was  healthy, — the  winter  there  being  in  point 
of  salubrity  the  very  antipodes  of  the  summer, — still,  an 
undefined  presentiment  of  a  something  yet  in  embryo 
glided  across  my  brain.  I  noted  down  the  facts  that  had 
already  occurred,  and  in  the  mean  time  gathered  materials 
for  other  tales. 

Two  months  passed  away,  and  a  letter  remained  in  the 
post-office  for  Mrs.  Mary  Williams.  In  taking  it  up  I 
accidentally  noticed  the  careless  manner  in  which  it  was 
folded.  The  following  scraps  of  sentences  were  distinct 
and  legible: — 

"  Business  very  dull — but  two  dollars  a  day — sickness — 
doctor's  bill — I  never  go  to  the  gambling-house — what 
made  you  think  so  ? — send  money  next  week." 

It  was  evident  from  this  that  William  had  got  into  bad 
company,  and  although  he  denied  frequenting  the  gam- 
bling-houses, those  sinks  of  iniquity,  those  common  sewers 
for  draining  from  the  weak  and  dissipated  their  hard 
earnings,  yet  I  felt  assured  that  he  was  lost,  and  his 
mother  left  in  her  old  days  poor  and  destitute,  relying 
upon  the  cold  charity  of  the  world  for  the  common  means 
of  subsistence.  Her  brave  and  noble  boy,  as  she  had 
fondly  called  him,  was  now  drawn  into  the  vortex  of  vice, 
from  whose  baneful  and  impetuous  influence  the  tears, 
the  cries,  the  agonizing  grief  of  her  who  doated  upon 
him,  to  whose  existence  her  whole  soul  seemed  linked, 
could  not  rescue  him.  The  spark  of  filial  aifection  was 
extinguished,  and  the  love  of  pleasures,  the  gratification 
of  passions,  dissipation,  and  debauchery,  had  usurped  its 
place.  The  winter  was  now  passed  away  with  its  wrath : 


THE  WIDOWED  MOTHER.  405 

storms  and  tempests  with  their  hail,  rain,  and  snow  were 
rushing  down  the  tide  of  time,  and  spring  was  seen  smiling 
in  the  dim  perspective.  It  was,  I  think,  in  the  early  part 
of  March,  when  Mrs.  Williams  stood  at  the  window.  Her 
whole  appearance  was  changed.  I  forgot  to  mention  she 
had  previously  sent  for  and  received  the  letter  to  which  I 
have  above  alluded.  Sickness  and  sorrow  had  done  their 
work.  Her  eyes  were  sunken,  her  cheeks  more  furrowed, 
and  poverty  still  more  strikingly  displayed  in  her  person. 
To  her  question,  "Are  there  any  letters  for  me?"  that 
powerful  monosyllable  "No!"  was  another  shock  to  the 
poor  mother.  She  stood  a  while  in  silence,  the  tears  rolled 
down  her  cheeks,  she  struggled  a  while  to  restrain  her 
feelings,  then  fast  flowed  the  sorrowing  waters  from  a 
heart  surcharged  with  grief.  She  turned  to  depart,  but 
faltered,  and  at  length  overcome,  she  sat  down  upon  the 
steps  of  the  post-office  and  wept  aloud. 

There  is  something  unnatural  in  the  weeping  of  the 
aged.  Youth  is  the  seed-time  of  the  harvest,  and  hath 
its  sunshine  and  clouds.  But  age  is  the  garnered  fruit, 
the  sere  and  the  yellow  leaf  of  all  that  was  beautiful. 
When  age  weeps,  'tis  for  youth,  not  for  itself.  I  gazed  on 
the  heart-broken  woman  before  me,  and  thought  of  her 
many  nights  and  days  of  anguish.  I  thought  of  all  her 
bright  visions  of  hope  and  joy  which  shone  through  her 
son  and  lighted  the  path  of  her  future.  They  were  all 
vanished,  and  here  she  lay  in  utter  darkness  and  desolation. 

I  spoke  to  her :  she  looked  up.  I  told  her  if  she  would 
leave  her  address  I  would  send  a  letter,  as  soon  as  it  came, 
to  her  home. 

"Home!"  she  exclaimed;  "I  have  none!  Yes,  yes,  I 
have !"  Reader,  it  was  the  poor-house ! 

Week  after  week  elapsed :  no  letter  came  for  the  aged 
widow.  One  day  I  accidentally  took  up  a  New  Orleans 
paper.  Curiosity  prompted  me  to  read  it  more  carefully 


406  THE  SIREN. 

than  usual :  the  paper  fell  from  my  hand ;  my  worst  ap- 
prehensions for  Mary  Williams  were  realized. 

******* 
I  stood  at  the  bedside  of  the  widow, — she  lay  on  one 
of  straw,  beside  which  stood  a  table  containing  sundry 
bottles  of  medicine,  and  near  her  a  Bible,  upon  which 
were  a  pair  of  common  steel  spectacles,  black  and  rusted 
with  age.  She  instantly  recognized  me. 

"Ah!  you  have  brought  me  a  letter  from  my  dear  boy. 
I  knew  he  would  not,  could  not,  desert  his  poor  mother. 
How  is  he?  where  is  he?" 

******* 

Reader,  here  I  close  my  sketch,  the  remembrance  of 
which  haunts  me  still,  and  the  last  sigh,  the  last  pang  of 
the  heart-broken  widow  will  be  as  the  monitor  to  prompt 
me  to  deeds  of  charity,  with  a  heart  alive  to  the  cries  of 
the  suffering,  and  a  feeling  of  joy  at  their  alleviation  which 
I  could  not  previously  have  experienced. 

THE  SIREN. 

The  morning  was  one  in  May,  the  first  of  the  month. 
All  nature  was  smiling  and  putting  forth,  like  the  gay 
daughters  of  earth,  her  ever-beauteous  charms.  I  had 
just  returned  from  a  long  ramble  in  the  country,  and  re- 
luctantly seated  myself  a,t  the  window  to  distribute  the 
thoughts,  the  opinions,  the  love,  the  hatred,  the  wisdom, 
and  the  follies  of  mankind  through  the  medium  of  letters. 

Passing  over  several  commonplace,  every-day  appli- 
cants, I  was  at  last  struck  with  the  interesting  appearance 
of  a  young  lady  who  could  not  have  attained  the  age  of 
eighteen.  There  was,  however,  a  certain  expression  of  the 
countenance,  a  lurking  devil — if  I  may  use  the  expression 
— in  her  eye,  denoting  alike  ungovernable  passions  and 
a  reckless  disregard  of  the  consequences  attending  their 
gratification.  The  study  of  human  nature  for  years,  and 


THE  SIREN.  407 

a  close  observation  of  all  its  wire-workings  and  mappings 
of  the  face,  which  my  position  had  a  tendency  to  improve, 
have  made  me  conversant  with  many  of  those  signs  which 
the  bad  passions  of  the  human  heart  cannot  keep  in  its 
deep  recess,  but  send  forth  as  warnings  to  the  young  and 
unwary  to  shun  them  as  they  would  a  pestilence.  She 
gave  her  name  as  Caroline  Somerville.  There  were  four- 
teen letters  to  her  address,  the  postage  of  which  amounted 
to  nearly  three  dollars.  Her  correspondence  seemed  to 
embrace  the  four  quarters  of  the  globe:  for  amongst  them 
were  two  ship  letters, — one  from  Bordeaux,  the  other  from 
a  small  .town  in  Scotland;  I  immediately  set  her  down  as 
one  of  our  best  female  customers. 

I  think  it  was  on  the  third  day  from  her  first  applica- 
tion at  the  office  that  I  noticed  in  her  handwriting  a  note 
addressed  to  a  merchant  of  this  city, — a  man  of  family 
and  reputed  a  model  of  his  sex,  and  a  pattern  for  hus- 
bands. This  excited  an  unusual  excitement  within  me. 

What  could  she  have  to  do  with  Middleton?  There 
was  nothing  in  common  between  them.  His  situation  in 
life,  his  moral  character  and  standing  in  society  were  all 
opposed  to  the  bare  supposition  of  such  a  thing. 

In  the  mean  time,  by  the  usual  method,  I  deciphered 
the  following  words:  "Pardon  the  freedom" — "No.  26 
Gaskill  Street" — "alone,  seven  o'clock" — "drop  a  note": 
these  were  all  I  could  make  out;  but  they  were  sufficient. 
The  character  and  plots  of  the  siren  were  no  longer  a 
subject  of  doubt.  I  knew  her  as  well  from  those  uncon- 
nected sentences  as  if  her  whole  history  had  been  written 
out  before  me.  She  was,  in  the  literal  sense  of  the  word, 

A  FEMALE  SEDUCER. 

The  next  question  that  presented  itself  to  my  mind  was, 
would  Middleton  pay  any  attention  to  her?  That  he 
would  not  admitted  scarcely  a  shadow  of  doubt :  he  might 
probably  reply  to  her  note,  but  only  to  refuse  and  remon- 


408  THE  SIREN. 

strate  with  her  upon  the  folly  and  imprudence,  if  not 
guilt,  of  her  conduct. 

I  handed  him  the  letter  myself:  he  remarked  imme- 
diately that  it  was  not  one  of  business.  The  seal  was 
broken  and  the  letter  was  read  with  an  eagerness  that 
surprised  me.  He  placed  it  carefully  in  his  pocket-book 
and  departed.  Towards  evening  Caroline  received  through 
me  an  answer  from  Mr.  Middleton,  in  which  I  discovered 
he  promised  to  meet  her.  From  that  period  there  came  a 
change  over  his  dream  of  life :  I  could  not  but  mark  the 
wasted  form  and  haggard  looks  which  others  wrould  at- 
tribute to  different  causes.  I  possessed  the  key  to  unlock 
the  truth,  but  that  formed  no  part  of  my  vocation. 

Weeks,  nay,  months,  elapsed,  and  I  was  only  reminded 
of  this  circumstance  by  the  daily  appearance  of  Middleton. 
The  few  short  months  were  as  years  upon  the  calendar  of 
his  face,  while  the  curse  of  memory  was  dragging  him 
with  an  iron  grasp  to  an  early  tomb.  One  day  he  told 
me,  in  a  manner  evidently  intended  to  convey  the  request 
more  as  a  matter  of  business  than  otherwise,  to  deliver 
his  letters  to  no  person  but  himself:  "remember,"  he 
repeated,  "to  no  one,  if  you  please,  sir."  I  promised  to 
follow  his  instructions  strictly.  He  had  his  reasons,  and 
I  knew  it. 

As  I  had  anticipated,  his  wife,  a  lovely  woman,  in  the 
fulness  of  life's  bloom,  rich  in  accomplishments,  the  06- 
served  of  all  observers,  called  at  the  office ;  I  could  detect 
beneath  the  bland  smile  the  canker-worm  of  domestic 
sorrow ;  the  seeds  of  misery  were  sown,  the  harvest  was 
ripening. 

"  Are  there  any  letters  here  for  Mr.  Middleton  ?" 

If  I  detest  any  thing  in  the  world,  it  is  the  telling  of  a 
white  lie;  it  soon  leads  to  a  black  one.  I  replied  thai 
there  were,  but  orders  had  been  given  to  deliver  them  to 
no  person  but  himself. 


THE  SIREN.  409 

"  Orders,  sir  ? — did  he  leave  such  orders  ?" 

"He  did,  madam." 

She  struggled  with  passion ;  it  was,  however,  in  vain. 
The  words,  "  perjured  villain,"  escaped  her,  and  she  left 
the  office. 

I  could  now  imagine  their  domestic  scenes, — conscious 
guilt  on  the  one  side,  injured  and  insulted  innocence  on 
the  other.  But  even  this  was  doomed  to  have  an  end. 

A  report  ran  through  the  city  that  a  murder  had  been 
committed  at  No.  26  Gaskill  Street.  Good  heavens !  The 
dwelling  of  Caroline !  I  hurried  to  the  scene  of  blood,  and 
there  lay  the  dead  body  of  Middleton,  and  beside  him,  in 
the  custody  of  two  officers,  his  murderer, — a  youthful 
paramour  of  this  modern  Jezebel. 

He  forfeited  his  life  upon  the  gallows,  and  Caroline 
Somerville  died  of  mania  a  potu  in  the  alms-house. 

What  became  of  the  wife  of  the  unfortunate  Middleton? 
the  reader  may  inquire.  Do  you  see  that  little  red  frame- 
house  which  stands  alone ;  that  one  with  the  neat  little 
garden  connected  with  it  ?  There  resides  Mrs.  Middleton, 
the  once  happy  wife,  together  with  her  four  small  children : 
to  maintain  them  she  takes  in  washing.  Yes,  reader,  such, 
alas !  is  her  destiny. 

The  tide  of  public  opinion  rolls  from  crime,  even  while 
it  carries  upon  its  bosom  many  a  bark  freighted  with  the 
unhallowed  cargo,  and  involves  many  an  innocent  victim 
in  its  reckless  and  overwhelming  course.  She  is  now  alone 
in  the  world,  with  none  to  sympathize,  none  to  alleviate 
her  anguish.  Her  little  ones  are  the  peopled  world  in 
which  she  moves ;  beyond  that  all  is  chaos. 

35 


410  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 


XVI. 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

WE  had  written  this  portion  of  our  work  with  feelings 
of  gratitude  to  the  brave  men  who  achieved  the  glorious 
victory  over  the  rebellious  armies  of  the  South,  and  looked 
forward  to  the  time  when  Abraham  Lincoln  in  triumph 
could  repeat  his  words,  uttered  long  before  the  surrender 
of  Lee's  army  :  "  When  the  rebellion  is  crushed,  my  work  is 
done."  That  work  was  done,  and  four  millions  of  people 
were  rescued  from  slavery  ;  not  alone  from  the  fact  of  any 
determined  opposition  to  the  institution  as  it  was  and  ex- 
isted under  the  Constitution,  but  the  effect  of  the  rebellion 
itself. 

Freedom  under  the  administration  of  Abraham  Lincoln 
became  a  reality,  what  before  was  but  a  name,  —  a  shadow  ! 
He  had  just  reached  that  point  :  his  labor  was  nearly  done, 
armies  had  surrendered,  and  the  power  of  the  government 
fully  sustained.  The  shout  of  gratitude  went  up  from  the 
four  points  of  our  country,  North,  South,  East,  and  West, 
and  was  carried  to  other  nations  with  a  rapidity  unequalled 
in  telegraphic  or  steam  history.  In  the  midst  of  this  re- 
joicing, at  a  time  when  every  heart  throbbed  with  plea- 
surable emotions  and  a  nation's  gratitude  was  about  being 
manifested  by  brilliant  illuminations  and  rejoicings,  the 
demon  of  hell  sent  a  fiend  forth  to  destroy  the  life  which 
had  given  a  new  one  to  our  nation. 

Our  country  was  an  Eden  on  the  morning  of  the  fatal 
day  whose  evening  shrouded  it  in  the  deepest  gloom.  All 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN.  411 

nature  was  joyous,  all  men  happy  save  those  who  in- 
augurated the  rebellion  and  looked  upon  the  downfall  of 
slavery  as  the  end  of  an  institution  upon  which  they 
sinned  and  grew  rich, — vampire-like  living  on  the  blood 
of  their  fellow-creatures !  Abraham  Lincoln  stood  in  the 
garden,  the  Eden  of  our  country,  the  Adam  of  a  new 
order  of  things, — a  re-created  world !  The  tree  of  liberty 
had  been  planted,  its  apples  had  been  eaten  eighty  years 
before,  and  the  curse  of  slavery  followed.  But  now  the 
tree  was  clear  of  its  "  Dead  Sea  fruit/'  which  had  withered 
its  branches ;  anew  it  blossomed,  anew  the  rich,  ripe  fruit 
of  freedom  loaded  its  stems,  and  hung  suspended, — bright 
jewels  on  a  living  tree.  It  was,  is,  and  ever  will  be  the 
tree  of  knowledge  to  a  free  and  independent  people,  the 
golden  fruit  of  all  that  is  good,  whose  roots  were  watered 
by  the  tears  of  the  grateful,  and  whose  soil  was  enriched 
by  the  blood  of  those  who  died  in  defending  it.  Abraham 
Lincoln  stood  in  this  garden,  the  man  of  the  people,  as 
was  the  first  man  of  God.  There  came  up  from  the  four 
corners  of  our  land  in  lightning  flashes  the  congratulations 
of  twenty-five  millions  of  free  people.  Proudly  there  he 
stood ;  the  smile  on  his  face  was  lighted  up  by  the  sun- 
shine of  his  heart.  Then  it  was  that  a  wretch,  whose 
vocation  and  associations  had  totally  demoralized  him, 
crept  into  this  Eden,  wherein  all  was  joy  and  happiness, — 
his  vile  nature,  envying  a  nation's  return  to  peace,  aimed 
to  destroy  it.  The  name  of  this  serpent  was  J.  Wilkes 
Booth,  the  tool  of  Southern  chivalry,  the  assassin  by 
whose  hand  Abraham  Lincoln  fell.  The  moment  that 
the  spirit  of  this  martyr  passed  from  earth  to  heaven,  the 
chains  fell  from  the  limbs  of  four  millions  of  people,  and 
the  doom  of  slavery  was  sealed  forever!  The  14th  of 
April,  1865,  may  be  dated  as  an  era  in  our  country's 
history  long  to  be  remembered,  for  Abraham  Lincoln  died 
in  carrying  out  his  great  work  of  emancipation.  He  lived 


412  OUR  NATIONAL  GRLEF. 

to  see  the  last  battle  fought,  lived  till  the  power  of  the 
rebellion  was  broken,  and  then,  having  finished  the  work 
for  which  God  had  sent  him,  he  passed  away  from  this 
world  to  that  high  and  glorious  realm  where  the  patriot 
and  the  good  shall  live  forever. 

"For  the  stars  on  our  banner  grown  suddenly  dim, 
Let  us  weep  in  our  sorrow,  but  weep  not  for  him ; 
Not  for  him  who  departing  leaves  millions  in  tears, 
Not  for  him  who  has  died  full  of  honors  and  years, 
Not  for  him  who  ascended  fame's  ladder  so  high, 
From  the  round  at  the  top  he  has  stepped  to  the  sky : 
It  is  blessed  to  go  when  so  ready  to  die." 

OUR  NATIONAL  GRIEF. 

The  murder  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  President  of  the  United  States,  on  the  14th  of 
April,  1865. 

WRITTEN   BY   LAURA   L.   REES. 

The  drapery  of  death  enshrouds, 

In  its  dark,  funereal  pall, 
Each  quiet  home.     Its  gloomy  shade 

Reveals  the  grief  of  all. 
A  country  mourns.     The  moaning  winds 

Sigh  requiems  of  woe ; 
E'en  from  the  shifting  clouds  the  tears 

In  crystal  showers  flow. 

Our  Father's  dead!  from  our  sad  hearts 

Goes  up  one  burden'd  strain, 
Till  every  trait  of  his  great  life 

As  monuments  remain. 
We  fondly,  thro'  the  vista  dim, 

Our  tearful  visions  cast, 
And  live  in  memory  o'er  again 

Each  history  of  the  past. 

We  watch  him  in  the  ship  of  state, 

On  a  treacherous,  bloody  tide : 
'Neath  his  firm  hand  the  nation's  bark 

In  triumph  on  shall  ride. 


OUR  NATIONAL  GRIEF.  413 

His  eagle  eye,  through  shadows  dark, 

Still  saw  the  beacon  light; 
His  heart,  unwavering,  placed  its  trust 

In  God  and  freedom's  right. 

Now  came  the  promised  shore  in  view, 

Now  dawned  the  glorious  day ; 
The  darksome  river  brighter  grew, 

Reflecting  victory's  ray 
Rebellion  falls — a  bleeding  form — 

Upon  the  crimson  deck; 
While  Slavery  sinks  beneath  the  stream, 

A  black,  dismantled  wreck. 

A  peaceful  rainbow  bends  its  hues 

Across  the  mighty  strand; 
It  faded  soon: — a  ruler  loved 

Fell  'neath  a  traitor's  hand. 
Mid  festive  scenes  the  assassin  comes 

To  act  the  dastard  deed : 
The  nation's  heart  was  wounded 

When  she  saw  the  patriot  bleed. 

The  stripes  that  deck  Columbia's  flag 

Grew  pallid  at  the  sight ; 
The  brilliant  galaxy  of  stars 

Flashed  with  a  vivid  light. 
The  unseen  spirit  of  our  land 

Seem'd  living  in  her  wrath, 
And  threw  the  starry  banner's  folds 

Across  the  murderer's  path. 
But  from  her  clasp  the  assassin  fled, 

Like  all  the  rebel  horde, 
Who  spurn  our  colors  with  their  heel, 

And  grasp  the  traitor's  sword. 

Centuries  ago,  that  day, 

A  saddening  act  was  done, 
That  rocked  the  earth  in  horror 

And  dimmed  the  radiant  sun. 
The  Anointed  One  was  crucified, 

Mid  agony  and  shame. 
"Father,  forgive  them!"  still  he  prayed, 

Whilst  they  reviled  his  name. 
35* 


414  OUR  NATIONAL  GRIEF. 

Towards  the  mount  of  Calvary 

The  heavy  cross  was  borne 
By  one  of  Afric's  sons,  a  race 

Now  abject  and  forlorn. 
The  cruel  yoke  was  on  their  life, 

Its  curse  upon  their  head, 
Till  another  raised  its  ponderous  weight 

For  it  his  blood  was  shed. 

Upon  Good  Friday's  holy  eve 

The  stalwart  Roman  band 
Removed  the  cross,  lest  its  dread  form 

Pollute  the  Jewish  land. 
Upon  Good  Friday's  holy  eve 

Columbia's  noblest  son 
Laid  down  the  weighty  cross  he  bore: 

The  martyr  crown  was  won. 

When  in  the  capital  to  him 

A  monument  shall  rise, 
The  record  of  a  nation's  love, 

The  tribute  of  her  sighs, 
We'll  vow  that  traitorous  deeds  no  more 

Shall  desecrate  our  fame ; 
No  more  the  blot  of  slavery 

Shall  stain  Columbia's  name. 
PHILADELPHIA,  April  19,  1865. 


INDEX. 


A  Chapter  of  Accidents,  366. 
Abolition  Papers  in  the  South,  195. 
Addenda,  410. 
Addresses   on   Letters   should   be 

legible,  337. 
Advertised  Letters,  314. 
African  Post,  88. 

Alphabets  of  Different  Nations,  30. 
American  Flag,  173. 
Ancient  Writing-Materials,  35. 

Ink,  41. 

Ruins,  19. 

Andersonville  Post-Office,  365. 
Appointment-Office,  Postal,  268. 
Appleton's  Postal  Guide,  339. 
Augustus  Caesar,  14,  20. 
Austria,  the  Carrier  System,  364. 

B. 

Bache,  Richard,  146. 
Barry,    William    T.,    Postmaster- 
General,  190. 
Bells,  Christ  Church,  97. 
Biographies  of   Postmaster-Gene- 
rals, 187. 

Samuel  Osgood  (1789),  187. 

Timothy  Pickering  (1794),  188. 

Jos.  Habersham  (1795),  189. 

Gideon  Granger  (1802),  189. 

Return  J.  Meigs  (1814),  189. 

John  McLean  (1823),  190. 

William  T.  Barry  (1829),  190. 


Amos  Kendall  (1835),  193. 

John  M.  Niles  (1840),  207. 

Francis  Granger  (1841),  207. 

Chas.  A.  Wickliffe  (1841),  210. 

Cave  Johnson  (1845),  211. 

Jacob  Collamer  (1849),  212. 

N.  K.  Hall  (1850),  212. 

Samuel    Dickinson    Hubbard 
(1852),  213. 

James  Campbell  (1853),  213. 

Aaron  Vail  Brown  (1857),  214. 

Joseph  Holt  (1858),  215. 

Horatio  King  (1861),  217. 

Montgomery  Blair  (1861),  217. 

William  Dennison  (1864),  224. 
Blair,    Montgomery,    Postmaster- 
General,  217. 

Extract  from  his  Report,  220. 
Blood's  Despatch,  394. 

Legal  Opinion  on,  394. 
Books,  Ancient,  40. 
Boston  Post,  94. 

Bradford,  William,  Colonial  Post- 
master, 118. 
Brintnall,  David,  96. 
Brown,  Aaron  Vail,  214. 

C. 

Campbell,  James,  Postmaster-Gene- 
ral, 213 

Carrier-Pigeons,  50. 
Carriers,  Letter,  255. 
Charles  I.,  Postal  System  under,  61. 
415 


416 


INDEX. 


Charlemagne,    Postal   System   un- 
der, 21,  58. 
Chinese  Post,  58. 

Decoy  System,  317. 
Collamer,  Jacob,  Postmaster-Gene- 
ral, 212. 

Colonial  Post,  90. 
Colonies,  the,  90. 
Commerce,  21. 
Commercial  League,  21. 
Complaints  about  Mistakes,  370. 
Confusion  of  Tongues,  47. 
Congress,  Colonial,  176. 

Places  held,  175. 

under  the  Constitution,  177. 
Contract-Office,  Postal,  268. 
Curiosities  of  the  Post-Office,  357. 
Curious  Cartridge-Paper,  163. 

Inscription  on  Letters,  343. 
Cyrus,  King  of  Egypt,  his  Postal 
System,  19. 

D. 

Dead-Letters,  307. 

Account  of,  309. 

Curiosities  of,  313. 
Declaration  of  Independence,  98, 

162. 
Decoy-Letter  System,  314. 

in  China,  317. 

Dennison,     William,     Postmaster- 
General,  224. 
Dishonest  Merchant,  332. 
Distribution  of  Letters  in  Europe, 

364. 

Domestic  Postage,  264. 
Dove,  Noah's,  49. 

the  Carrier,  50. 

E. 

Early  Posts,  98. 
Egypt,  19. 

Egyptian  Pyramids,  19. 
Elements  of  the  American  System, 
206. 


Elements    of    the    British    Postal 

System,  205. 
Employees   in    the  English    Post- 

Office,  382. 
English  Post-Office  History,  57, 382. 

Charles  I.,  61. 

Elizabeth,  60. 

Postal  System,  58. 

Post-Office,  Inside  View,  243. 

under  Edward  IV.,  59. 
Espionage  over  Letters  in  France, 
386. 

in  the  Southern  States,  196. 
European  Postal  History,  57. 

Posts,  Summary  of,  81. 

P. 

Fanaticism  in  the  Colonies,  91. 
Fatal  Letter,  the,  357. 
Finance-Office,  Postal,  268. 
First  Regular  Post,  18. 

Riding-Post,  18. 

Stage    from    Philadelphia    to 

New  York,  115. 
Forbidden  Articles,  362. 
Franking  Privilege,  288,  383. 

curious  account  of,  297. 

in  England,  296. 

in  France,  296. 

its  Abuse,  293. 

who  are  entitled  to  it,  297. 
Franklin,   Benjamin,   in   Philadel- 
phia, 143. 

Death  of,  153. 

Epitaph  on,  154. 

Letter  from,  147. 

Mrs.,  Letter  to  her  Husband, 
142. 

Postmaster  (1737),  118. 

Postmaster  (1753),  140. 

Postmaster  (1775),  142. 

Printer  and  Editor,  149. 

G. 

German  Post,  24. 


INDEX. 


417 


Glance  over  the  Postal  System  at 
the  Philadelphia  Post-Office,  236. 

Gliddon,  George  R.,  on  Ancient 
Egypt,  27. 

Government  of  Pennsylvania,  102. 

Governors  of  Pennsylvania  from 
1682  to  1863,  183. 

Granger,  Francis,  Postmaster- 
General,  207. 

Granger,  Gideon,  Postmaster- 
General,  189. 

H. 

Habersham,  Joseph,  Postmaster- 
General,  189. 

Hail  Columbia,  172. 

Hall,  N.  K.,  Postmaster-General, 
212. 

Hamilton's,  Col.  J.,  Colonial  Postal 
Scheme,  94. 

Hanseatic  League,  21. 

Hazard,  Ebenezer,  Postmaster- 
General,  187. 

Herodotus,  18. 

Hieroglyphical  Writing,  42. 
among  Indians,  46. 

Hill,  Rowland,  73. 

Hiram,  King,  his  Letter  to  Solo- 
mon, 55. 

Holt,  John,  Printer,  101. 

Joseph,     Postmaster-General, 
215. 

Hubbard,  Samuel  Dickinson,  213. 

I. 

Important  Postal  Tables,  259. 

Facts,  284. 

Indecent  Postal  Matter,  383. 
Independent  Post-Office,  100. 
Indian  Hieroglyphics,  45. 
Ink,  Ancient,  41. 
Ink-Horns,  41. 
Inspection-Office,  Postal,  269. 


J. 

Jemmy  the  Rover,  156. 
Jezebel  the  First  Letter- Writer,  54. 
Johnson,   Cave,  Postmaster-Gene- 
ral, 211. 
July  4,  1776,  161,  163. 

K. 

Kendall,  Amos,  Postmaster-Gene- 
ral, 193. 

about  Abolition  Papers,  196. 
his  Strict  Postal  Rules,  201. 
Letter  to  Southern  Postmaster, 

196. 

Southern  Tyranny,  197. 
the  Press,  200. 

King,   Horatio,   Postmaster-Gene- 
ral, 217. 


Language,  Origin  of,  30. 
Languages,  Various,  30. 
Lawsuit,  a  Curious  One,  371. 

Law-Definition  of,  338. 

to  be  repealed,  338. 
Leaves  from  the  Note-Book  of 

Special  Agent,  325,  327,  332. 
Letter-Boxes,  360. 
Letter-Carriers,  255. 

as  a  Class,  255. 

Belgian,  364. 

in  Italy,  364. 

in  London,  256. 

in  Paris,  383. 

in  Prussia,  364. 

their  Compensation,  363. 
Letter-Carrying  System,  251. 
Letters,  53. 

curious  directions  on,  343. 

improperly  directed,  335. 

in  Ancient  Times,  53. 
Letter-Sealing,  370. 
Letter- Writers,  the  First,  54. 

from  Solomon  to  Hiram,  55. 

Hiram's  Answer,  56. 


418 


INDEX. 


Liberty-Tree,  166. 
Lincoln,  Abraham,  219,  410. 
Literature  in  the   United   States 

125. 
Locality  of  Old  Post-Offices,  231. 

of  Old  Houses,  96. 
Lockett,  Lydia,  169. 

M. 

Mails  in  England,  306. 

on  the  Sabbath,  302. 

the  Early,  99. 

to  China  and  Japan,  227. 
Makin,  Thomas,  Colonial  School 

master,  113. 

Market-Days  in  Philadelphia,  97. 
McLean,   John,  Postmaster-Gene 

ral,  190. 

Meigs,     Return    J.,     Postmaster 
General,  189. 

on  the  Sabbath,  304. 
Messengers  in  the  Olden  Time,  49. 
Mint,  the  First,  188. 
Miscellaneous,  365. 
Money-Order  System,  350. 


New  Post-Office,  Philadelphia,  236. 
New  York  Post-Office,  99. 

an  Act  relative  to  (1785),  115. 

Early  History  of,  99. 
Newspaper  Postage,  265. 

Abuse  of,  356. 

English  Estimate  of,  358. 

Exchanges,  339 

Postmaster-General's    Report 
on,  341. 

Press,  253,  355. 

Value  of,  340. 
Niles,  John  M.,  Postmaster-Gene- 

ral, 207. 

Noah's  Dove,  49. 
Number  of  Post-Offices,  206. 


O. 

Olden  Time,  Philadelphia,  122. 
Old  Riding-Post,  18. 

Coffee-House,  120. 

Houses,  96. 

Hunting-Club,  116. 

Post-Rider,  92. 
One-Cent  System,  363. 
Organization   of   the  Postal  Sys- 
tem, 267. 
Origin  of  Posts,  Post-Offices,  &c., 
13. 

Languages,  30. 

Writing-Materials,  35. 
Osgood,  Samuel,  Postmaster-Gene- 
ral, 187. 
Our  National  Grief,  412. 

P. 

Palmer,  John,  67. 

Pandora's  Box,  Dead-Letter  Office, 

313. 
Paper,  37. 
Papyrus,  37. 
Pastoral  Life,  28. 

Labor,  29. 
Pencils,  39. 

Penn,  William,  102,  104,  113,  117. 
Pennsylvania  in  the  Olden   Time, 
102. 

History  of,  102. 
'enny  Post  first  established,  63. 

in  America,  392. 

in  England,  383. 
Philadelphia  Post-Office,  110. 

Architectural  View,  237. 

in  1793,  230. 

in  the  Olden  Time,  122. 

Postmasters,  234. 

Post-Office,  Inside  View,  241. 

Post-Office,  Outside  View,  239. 

Stage-Wagons,  115. 
ickering,    Thomas,    Postmaster- 
General,  188. 
Ian  of  Philadelphia,  117. 


INDEX. 


419 


Plitt,  George,  his  Report  on   Fo- 
reign Post-Offices,  380. 
Post-Coaches,  271. 

Horses,  20,  93,  271. 

Riders,  19. 
Postage  on  Printed  Matter,  339. 

Domestic,  340. 

Stamp  Collectors,  377. 

Stamps,  History  of,  373. 

curious  use  of,  378. 
Postal  Department,  267. 

Revenue,  282. 

Statistics,  262. 

Tables,  Important,  260. 
Postmaster-Generals,  a  List  of,  187. 

a  Royal  One,  18. 

under  the  Constitution,  188. 

under  the  Crown,  94. 

under    the   Proprietary   Gov- 
ernment, 187. 

Postmasters  in  Philadelphia,  234. 
Post-Office,  Philadelphia,  110,  230. 

a  Political  Institution,  16,  203. 

Boston,  94. 

Curiosities,  357. 

England,  57,  382. 

New  York,  95,  99. 

solvent,  387. 

Statistics,  260. 

Post-Offices,  Ancient  and  Modern, 
13. 

Number  of,  206. 
Posts,  Early,  98. 

in  China,  58. 

in  Greece,  14. 

in  Rome,  14. 

in  the  Tyrol,  17. 

under  King  Cyrus,  18.   . 
Pratt,  Henry,  Post-Rider   (1738), 

121. 

Presidents  of  Congress,  Colonial, 
176. 

under  the  Constitution,  177. 
Press,  Abuse  of  the  Freedom  of, 
356. 


Press,  Freedom  of  the,  355. 

Importance  of,  253. 
Prophecy,  a  Strange  One,  157. 
Pyramids  of  Egypt,  19,  275. 

Q. 

Queen  Elizabeth,  60. 
Quills,  39. 

R. 

Railroad  Postal  System,  286. 
Railroads,  Ancient,  273. 

in  America,  277. 

in  England,  276. 
Rates  of  Postage,  339. 
Rebellion,  194. 
Regulators  in  the  South,  197. 
Reminiscences,  139. 
Report  of  Mr.  George  Plitt,  380. 
Riding-Post,  18. 
Roger,  Count  of  Thurn,  17. 
Romance  of  the  Post-Office,  111. 
Rosetta  Stone,  43,  44. 
Ruins  of  Ancient  Cities,  273. 

S. 

Sabbath  Day,  302. 
Salaries  of  Postmasters,  391. 
Scenes  at  the  Post-Office,  367. 
Scribe,  40. 

Scriptural    Allusions   to  Writing- 
Materials,  &c.,  35. 
Sealing-Wax,  370. 
Society  Hill,  122. 
Sons  of  Liberty,  101. 
Special  Agents,  319. 

Agent,  Carrier's  Department, 

323. 

Stage-Wagons,  96. 
Stamps,  Collectors  of,  377. 

Curious  Use  of,  378. 

History  of,  373. 
Star-Spangled  Banner,  173. 
Style,  38. 

Suggestions,  Postal,  361. 
Summary  of  English  Posts,  84. 


420 


INDEX. 


T. 

Tables,  Important  Postal,  262. 

Tablets,  37. 

Tales  of  the  Post-Office,  397. 

The  Post  comes  in,  368. 

The  Siren,  406. 

The  Victim  of  Love,  397. 

The  Widowed  Mother,  402. 

Theatres  in  Philadelphia,  124. 

Tower  of  Babel,  47. 

Trades  and  Professions,  27. 

U. 

Unmailable  Letters,  &c.,  336. 

V. 

Virginia  Postal  System  before  the 
devolution,  120. 


W. 

Walborn,  C.  A.,  249. 
Waldy,  Henry,  113. 
Waste  Paper,  369. 

Curious    Incident    connected 

with,  369. 

Watch  your  Letter-Boxes,  360. 
Wax,  Sealing,  370. 
Wayne,  Anthony,  156. 
Wharton,  Robert,  117. 
Wickliffe,  Charles  A.,  Postmaster- 
General,  210. 

Work  of  the  Post-Office,  254. 
Writing-Materials,  Origin  of,  35. 

Y. 

Yankee  Doodle,  Origin  of,  167. 

the  Words,  170,  171. 
Yellow  Fever  (1793),  221. 
Youthful  Mail-Robber,  327. 


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